Meanings
plural kangaroo paws
- Any of various perennial flowering plants of the family Haemodoraceae, endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.
Spring flowers everywhere—freesias in throng, and startling growths of kangaroo paw with its dark red, vividly red stalks.
1984, Helen Garner, Yellow Notebook: Diaries 1978-1987, Text Publishing, published 2022, page 118
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsedgelike spring-flowering herb having clustered flowers covered with woolly hairs; Australia
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Named for the shape of the unopened flower (lower left in picture), which resembles the paws of a kangaroo.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
kangaroo paw. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kangaroo%20paw
“kangaroo paw.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kangaroo%20paw. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kangaroo paw,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kangaroo%20paw.
Source: kangaroo paw on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.