any of various herbivorous marsupials of the genera Lagorchestes ( hare wallabies ), Petrogale ( rock wallabies ), Protemnodon, etc, of Australia and New Guinea, similar to but smaller than kangaroos: family Macropodidae
slang (of a person) wandering about looking for work
First recorded in 1790–1800, wallaby is from the Dharuk word wa-la-ba
How does wallaby compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
A wallaby is a pint-sized relative of a kangaroo. Like their larger cousins, wallabies are indigenous to Australia and New Guinea. Small to medium-sized, wallabies are a type of marsupial that carries its newborn babies in pouches. The tiniest species of wallaby is only 18 inches long. They have very powerful rear legs that allow them to jump high, bound along at top speed, and kick predators hard when necessary. The name wallaby is from the Aboriginal Australian Dharug waliba; in English, wallabies were once commonly referred to as as "brush-kangaroos."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A wallaby hastily bounds towards sparse gum trees.
From BBC • Sep. 14, 2024
It was most likely a mid-speed hopper, something like a swamp wallaby.
From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2024
Researchers in Australia reintroduced “ecosystem engineers” including species of rat and wallaby, to areas from which they had disappeared.
From Scientific American • Sep. 9, 2023
Edwardsville law enforcement and animal control from nearby Bonner Springs responded to calls about the unusual highway sight of a joey, which some mistook for a wallaby.
From Washington Times • Jun. 30, 2023
Creeping along on his hands and knees he saw two men—escaped convicts like himself—engaged in skinning a wallaby.
From Rídan The Devil And Other Stories 1899 by Becke, Louis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
