kangaroo court
Syllables: kang·a·roo courtUK/ˌkæŋɡəˌɹuː ˈkɔːt/US/ˌkæŋɡəˌɹu ˈkɔɹt/
kangaroo court noun: a judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding, or a group of people which conducts such proceedings, which is without proper authority, and often acts abusively or decides unjustly.
Noun
kangaroo court (plural kangaroo courts)
- A judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding, or a group of people which conducts such proceedings, which is without proper authority, and often acts abusively or decides unjustly.
- The Concordia Intelligencer says "several loafers were lynched in Natchez last week upon various charges instituted by the Kangaroo court.[…]" What is a Kangaroo court, neighbor?1841 August 24, “Don’t comprehend”, in C. M. Price, G. R. Fall, editors, The Daily Picayune, volume V, number 179, New Orleans, La.: Lumsden, Kendall & Co., →OCLC, page 2, column 5
- On the evening succeeding the election, a meeting was gotten up some what in imitation of a "Kangaroo Court," for the purpose of trying three individuals, […]1848 December 1, W. P. Andrews, “[Letter to the editors]”, in The Mississippian, volume XVIII, number 3, Jackson, Miss.: [G. R. Fall and J. Marshall], published 12 January 1849, →OCLC, page 3, column...
kangaroo court meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Arabic and Indonesian
kangaroo court in Hindi
- a kangaroo court
- अंधेर नगरी चौपट राजा andher nagrī caupaṭ rājā
kangaroo court in Tamil
- கட்டப் பஞ்சாயத்து
kangaroo court in Arabic
- judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
- محكمة الكنغر mahkamat alkanghar
kangaroo court in Indonesian
- judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
- pengadilan kanguru
More languagesFewer languages
- kangaroo court in Persian
- دادگاه پوشالی
- kangaroo court in Thai
- ศาลเตี้ย sǎan-dtîia, ศาลเถื่อน săan tèuan
- kangaroo court in Vietnamese
- phiên tòa chuột túi
Examples of kangaroo court in a sentence
- Sol Tuttle interposed; "Don't you let nobody hev any witnesses i[n] this kangaroo court?"1856, Charles Summerfield [pseudonym; Alfred W. Arrington], “The Trial—An Execution”, in The Rangers and Regulators of the Tanaha: Or, Life...
- They take him off to face their kangaroo court in the cellar of a deserted brewery.1933 April 10, “The New Pictures: M by Fritz Lang”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Apr...
- It is the right of the accused to be tried by a legally constituted court, not by a kangaroo court.1951 April 23, William O[rville] Douglas, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, “Williams v. United States”, in Legal...
- A military commission trial falling short of the full UCMJ standard is all but certain to be pejoratively judged as a "kangaroo court" in the court of public opinion.2003 December, David Glazier, “Kangaroo Court or Competent Tribunal?: Judging the 21st Century Military Commission”, in Virginia Law...
Forms of kangaroo court
| plural | kangaroo courts |
|---|
Origin of kangaroo court
From kangaroo + court. The etymology is uncertain; it has been suggested that the term draws a comparison between the leaping of a kangaroo and one of the following: * The 19th-century practice of itinerant judges moving from place to place on the American frontier and trying cases speedily and perfunctorily in order to get paid. * The use of irregular courts during the California Gold Rush (1848–1855) to decide claims of “jumping” (illegally occupying) mining claims. * The notion that a kangaroo court jumps to conclusions.
Words formed from kangaroo court
Words that rhyme with kangaroo court
44 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- export
- mort
- assort
- escort
- fort
- quart
- resort
- retort
- thwart
- wart
- cavort
- comport
- detort
- distort
- extort
- swart
- transport
- apport
- come short
- consort
- contort
- desport
- ort
- purport
- reimport
- tort
- accourt
- aport
- asnort
- asport
- bort
- coreport
- Crown Court
- dort
- exhort
- Isle aux Morts
- misreport
- reexport
- rereport
- rort
- skort
- spoilsport
- torte
- worrywart
Questions about kangaroo court
- What does kangaroo court mean?
- Kangaroo court means a judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding, or a group of people which conducts such proceedings, which is without proper authority, and often acts abusively or decides unjustly.
- What is kangaroo court in Hindi?
- Kangaroo court in Hindi is अंधेर नगरी चौपट राजा (andher nagrī caupaṭ rājā). See Kangaroo court meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use kangaroo court in a sentence?
- Sol Tuttle interposed; "Don't you let nobody hev any witnesses i[n] this kangaroo court?"
- What part of speech is kangaroo court?
- Kangaroo court is a noun.
- How do you pronounce kangaroo court?
- Kangaroo court is pronounced /ˌkæŋɡəˌɹuː ˈkɔːt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of kangaroo court?
- The plural of kangaroo court is kangaroo courts.
Words near kangaroo court in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: kangaroo court (page history and authors); अंधेर नगरी चौपट राजा (Hindi) (page history and authors); kangaroo court (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-kangaroo court.ogg.
Cite this entry: “kangaroo court.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kangaroo_court. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.