woomera

American  

[woom-er-uh] / ˈwʊm ər ə /

noun

1. a notched stick used by Australian Aboriginal peoples to propel spears or darts.

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Woomera ¹ British  

/ ˈwʊmərə /

noun

1. a town in South Australia: site of the Long Range Weapons Establishment. Pop: 602 (2001)

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woomera ² British  

/ ˈwʊmərə /

noun

1. a type of notched stick used by native Australians to increase leverage and propulsion in the throwing of a spear

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Etymology

Origin of woomera

First recorded in 1810–20, woomera is from the Dharuk word wu-ma-ra

Example Sentences

Until now, the only British satellite-bearing rocket was launched from Woomera in Australia in 1971.

From New York Times

The launch site then was a military rocket range near Woomera in South Australia state.

From Seattle Times

High Down was the test site for the Black Arrow rocket, the first - and so far only - British-made rocket to successfully deliver a satellite into Earth's orbit, launching from Woomera in Australia on 28 October, 1971.

From BBC

A landing capsule from Japan's autonomous Hayabusa2 spacecraft, carrying a cache of material gathered from asteroid Ryugu, successfully came down in South Australia's Woomera Prohibited Area.

From Scientific American

“Images that Hayabusa2 took during its landing operations made us confident that the spacecraft collected Ryugu samples,” wrote Satoru Nakazawa, deputy manager of the mission, in an e-mail while in Woomera, Australia.

From Scientific American