brumby

plural brumbies

1. AustraliaA wild or feral horse.

   "It could mean one of two things," he said. "Either that help is coming, or that a herd of wild brumbies is passing somewhere near."

   1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 31, column 2

   4 more examples

   I'm too weak to ride. I'd have to ride, because for one thing the white-ants have eaten the wheels of my buckboard, and my one cart-horse has gone bush with the brumbies.

   1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter VIII, in Capricornia, page 125

   He captures brumbies, the wild horses of the outback, running them down on motorcycles and shipping them to the city where they are butchered for pet food.

   1967, December 22, Life, page 69

   If the latter situation prevails, brumbies can be developed into valuable stockhorses, either for use on the local property or for sale in other areas. Whatever the condition of a captured brumby, there is always the potential of selling it for pet food, fish bait, or even for human consumption.

   1976, Tom Lee McKnight, Friendly Vermin: A Survey of Feral Livestock in Australia, page 17

   Harry Farquharson said there were two or three springs and that the horses were “bloody wild”. He said there were probably about 300 and they were good horses, a long way above the average brumby.

   1988, Tom Cole, Hell West and Crooked

plural Brumbys

1. countableuncountableA former village in Brumby and Frodingham district, Frodingham parish, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom.
2. countableuncountableA locality in the Shire of East Gippsland, eastern Victoria, Australia.
3. countableA habitational surname from Old Norse.