Word.ws English Dictionary

beyond the black stump

beyond the black stump prepositional phrase: in an extremely isolated place, remote from populated areas; in the middle of nowhere. Typically used to refer to outback areas.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (Australia, idiomatic, informal) In an extremely isolated place, remote from populated areas; in the middle of nowhere. Typically used to refer to outback areas.
    • While Millard did not shift from log cabin to White House, he did transport himself from beyond the Black Stump to strike it rich at Stawell.2002, John Perry, Quick and the Dead: Stawell and Its Race Through Time, page 118
    • “Just don't go gettin' serious,” Frank warned. “We don't want any trouble. We're gonna be beyond the black stump out there, not at the bloody Lennox Hotel.”2004, Leon F. Williams, Rubies of Mogok, Trafford, page 104
    Synonyms:
    remote place, back o' Bourke, back of beyond, Woop Woop

Synonyms of beyond the black stump

Origin of beyond the black stump

Origin and development contested; possibly from the use of fire-blackened tree-stumps when providing directions to people, or from a particular black stump: see Wikipedia. Attested since the 20th century, and possibly developed in the 19th century.

Questions about beyond the black stump

What does beyond the black stump mean?
Beyond the black stump means in an extremely isolated place, remote from populated areas; in the middle of nowhere. Typically used to refer to outback areas.
What part of speech is beyond the black stump?
Beyond the black stump is a prepositional phrase.

Words near beyond the black stump in the dictionary

  1. beyond redemption
  2. beyond seas
  3. beyond someone's grasp
  4. beyond someone's scope
  5. beyond the beyonds
  6. beyond the black stump
  7. beyond the call of duty
  8. beyond the grave
  9. beyond the pale
  10. beyond the shadow of a doubt
  11. beyond words

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: beyond the black stump (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: EN-AU ck1 beyond the black stump.ogg.

Cite this entry: “beyond the black stump.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/beyond_the_black_stump. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.