wombat

[wom-bat] /ˈwɒm bæt/

noun

any of several stocky, burrowing, herbivorous marsupials of the family Vombatidae, of Australia, about the size of a badger.

Origin

1790-1800; < Dharuk wom-bat

British Dictionary definitions for wombat

wombat

/ˈwɒmbæt/

noun

any of various burrowing herbivorous Australian marsupials, esp Vombatus ursinus, constituting the family Vombatidae and having short limbs, a heavy body, and coarse dense fur

Word Origin

C18: from a native Australian language

Word Origin and History for wombat

marsupial mammal of Australia, 1798, from aboriginal Australian womback, wombar.

Slang definitions & phrases for wombat

wombat

noun

An eccentric person; freak, nut

[1980s+ Teenagers; probably fr the inherently amusing name of the wombat, a pudgy Australian marsupial, and the occurrence of bat, ''crazy person, nut,'' as an element of the name]

wombat in Technology

Waste Of Money, Brains, And Time.
Problems which are both profoundly uninteresting in themselves and unlikely to benefit anyone interesting even if solved. Often used in fanciful constructions such as "wrestling with a wombat".
See also crawling horror, SMOP.
[Jargon File]
(1995-03-10)

1. A metasyntactic variable in Commonwealth Hackish.
2. wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk.
[Jargon File]
(1995-03-10)