wallaby

/ˈwɑləbi/

/ˈwɒləbi/

Other forms: wallabies

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."

Definitions of wallaby

1. noun

   any of various small or medium-sized kangaroos; often brightly colored
   synonyms: brush kangaroo

   types:

   Macropus agiles, common wallaby

   a small wallaby having a height of 30 inches

   hare wallaby, kangaroo hare

   small Australian wallaby that resembles a hare and has persistent teeth

   nail-tailed kangaroo, nail-tailed wallaby

   small wallabies with a horny nail on the tip of the tail

   rock kangaroo, rock wallaby

   slender long-legged Australian wallabies living in caves and rocky areas

   paddymelon, pademelon

   small reddish-brown wallabies of scrubby areas of Australia and New Guinea

   tree kangaroo, tree wallaby

   arboreal wallabies of New Guinea and northern Australia having hind and forelegs of similar length

   type of:

   kangaroo

   any of several herbivorous leaping marsupials of Australia and New Guinea having large powerful hind legs and a long thick tail