kangaroo

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of various herbivorous marsupials of the family Macropodidae of Australia and adjacent islands, having short forelimbs, large hind limbs adapted for leaping, and a long tapered tail.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A large marsupial mammal of Australia, Macropus giganteus; by extension, any herbivorous and saltatorial marsupial of the family Macropodidæ (which see for technical characters). The great kangaroo, the first Australian species of this large family to become known to Europeans, was discovered by Cook in 1770. The male stands 6 or 7 feet high; the female is a third smaller. The hinder parts of the animal enormously preponderate over the fore parts; the thighs and tail are very muscular, the lower leg and the tail very long. The second and third digits are much reduced, the weight of the body falling chiefly on the fourth and fifth. The fore limbs are very small, used chiefly for prehension, and not in locomotion; during the flying leaps the animal makes, said to be from 10 to 20 and even 30 feet in extent, they are closely clasped to the breast. The head and neck are slender, the ears high. The general color is yellowish brown, darker above and paler below. The front teeth are fitted for nipping herbage; the stomach is long and sacculated; and there is a large cæcum. In their whole structure and economy the kangaroos represent ruminants in the Australian, Austro-Malayan, and Papuan regions. They are gregarious, inoffensive, and timid, but when brought to bay prove formidable antagonists, using the claws of the hind feet with great effect. They are killed by being closed in upon and knocked down with clubs, or driven into ambush and shot like deer. There are many species, 23 of the genus Macropus, 6 of Petrogale, and 3 of the genus Onychogalea, in which the tail ends in a kind of nail. They inhabit not only Australia and Tasmania, but New Guinea, New Ireland, the Aru Islands, and other islands. A large numher of smaller species with naked muzzle, called brush-kangaroos, pademelons, whallabees, etc., constitute the subgenus Halmaturus. The rock-kangaroos form the genus Petrogale. Hare-kangaroos or kangaroo-hares belong to the genus Lagorchestes. (See cut under hare-kangaroo.) A peculiar type of kangaroo, inhabiting New Guinea and Misol, is the genus Dorcopsis. (See cut under Dorcopsis.) Kangaroo-rats, potoroos, or bettongs are small animals constituting the subfamily Hypsiprymninæ.
2. n. A kind of chair.
3. n. An early form of ‘safety’ bicycle which had a large wheel in front and a small one in the rear, the forks being connected by a curved backbone, as in the ordinary ‘high’ bicycle, but with the saddle back of the large wheel. It was propelled by treadles connected to cranks on the front axle by connecting-rods. This allowed the weight of the rider to be kept always back of the center of the front wheel.
4. n. plural In stock-exchange slang, West Australian mining shares.
5. To leap as a kangaroo, either literally or figuratively.
6. To hunt the kangaroo.
7. To whip with a kangaroo-skin whip-lash.

Wiktionary

1. n. A member of a family of large marsupials with strong hind legs for hopping, mainly found in Australia, scientific name macropod.
2. n. Canada, attributive A hooded jacket with a front pocket, usually of fleece material, a kangaroo jacket.
3. v. To practice kangaroo care on an infant; to hold a premature infant against the skin.
4. v. To hunt kangaroo.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of jumping marsupials of the family Macropodidæ. They inhabit Australia, New Guinea, and adjacent islands, They have long and strong hind legs and a large tail, while the fore legs are comparatively short and feeble. The giant kangaroo (Macropus major) is the largest species, sometimes becoming twelve or fourteen feet in total length. The tree kangaroos, belonging to the genus Dendrolagus, live in trees; the rock kangaroos, of the genus Petrogale, inhabit rocky situations; and the brush kangaroos, of the genus Halmaturus, inhabit wooded districts. See wallaby.

WordNet 3.0

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