joey

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableAustralian

   A baby kangaroo, especially one still carried and fed in its mother's pouch.

   Grammar: Countable: a joey, two joeys.

   Patterns

   • a joey in the pouch

   A tiny joey peeked out of its mother's pouch.

   The zoo welcomed a new joey this spring.

   The ranger rescued an orphaned joey after the fire.

2. 2nouncountableAustralian

   The young of certain other marsupials, such as wallabies, wombats and koalas.

   Grammar: A wider use: the joey of a wallaby.

   Patterns

   • a wallaby joey
   • a koala joey

   The wallaby joey hopped around the enclosure.

   A koala joey clung to its mother's back.

   Keepers hand-raised the wombat joey.

Word forms

Common combinations

kangaroo joey

A kangaroo joey stays in the pouch for months.

orphaned joey

Volunteers feed the orphaned joey with a bottle.

joey in the pouch

You can see a joey in the pouch if the mother stands still.

hand-raise a joey

She helped hand-raise a joey at the wildlife park.

baby joey

The baby joey grew quickly.

Synonyms and how they differ

cub

Cub is used for young bears or lions, not marsupials, so it does not fit a kangaroo.

pup

Pup is used for young seals, dogs or similar animals, and not for marsupials.

baby

Baby is the general word, while joey names the particular young of marsupials.

Word family

marsupial noun

an animal whose young develop in a pouch

kangaroo noun

a large hopping marsupial

pouch noun

the pocket where a joey is carried

wallaby noun

a smaller relative of the kangaroo

Commonly confused: joey or Joey? joey or joy?

Practice

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