kan·ga·roo / ˌkanggəˈroō/ • n. a large plant-eating macropod (genus Macropus, family Macropodidae) with a long powerful tail and strongly developed hind limbs that enable it to travel by leaping, found only in Australia and New Guinea.ORIGIN: late 18th cent.: from an Aboriginal language.

kangaroo Marsupial found only in Australia, New Guinea and adjacent islands. The three main types are the grey kangaroo, the red kangaroo and the wallaroo, or euro. The thick, coarse fur is red, brown, grey or black. The front legs are small, the hind legs long and used in leaping. Height: to 1.8m (6ft) at the shoulder; weight: to 70kg (154lb). Family Macropodidae, genus Macropus.

Kangaroo ★★★ 1986 (R)

An Australian adaptation of the semi-autobiographical D.H. Lawrence novel. A controversial English novelist and his wife move to the Outback in 1922, and are confronted with all manner of prejudice and temptation. 115m/C VHS . AU Judy Davis, Colin Friels, John Walton, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Julie Nihill; D: Tim Burstall; W: Evan Jones; C: Dan Burstall; M: Nathan Waks. Australian Film Inst. ‘86: Actress (Davis).

kangaroo XVIII. Said by Capt. James Cook (1770) and Joseph Banks (1770) to have been a native Australian name (kangooroo), which is supported by some later writers, but denied by others.

kangaroo See MACROPODIDAE.