matilda

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See also: Matilda

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Unknown.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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matilda (plural matildas)

  1. (Australia) A bundle of possessions, often tied up in a sack; a swag.
    • 1906, A. B. Paterson, On The Road to Gundagai, The Old Bush Songs, Gutenberg eBook #10493,
      In a week the spree was over and the cheque was all knocked down, / So we shouldered our “Matildas,” and we turned our backs on town, / And the girls they stood a nobbler as we sadly said “Good bye,” / And we tramped from Lazy Harry’s, not five miles from Gundagai;
    • 1999, Milton Finkelstein, Global geography:
      When a hobo roams through the outback with a matilda on his back, he is said to be “waltzing matilda.”

Derived terms

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