Dictionary

kylie en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkaɪ.li/
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From an Aboriginal Australian language, possibly Nyunga kylie.

Meanings

1. (Australia, Western) A boomerang.
   • Far into the night the kylies kept sharply rattling in waves of metallic sound, the voices carrying far in bursts of song that ceased with startling abruptness. 1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 253:
   • Kylies were used by prehistoric people in all parts of the world. Usually made of wood, they were banana shaped; both faces of each arm were carved into curved, airfoil surfaces. 2001, Jacqueline L. Longe, How Products Are Made, page 55:
   • The islanders have discovered that kylies made out of thin iron, such as ship′s tanks, are the most serviceable, and they show great dexterity in making them (see Fig. 6). 1916, Royal Society of Western Australia, Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, volume 1, page 57:
   • Then we drove up to the cricket-ground to see them throw their boomerangs or kylies, which they did very cleverly. One of the kylies was broken against a tree, but most of the others flew with unerring precision. 1889, Annie Brassey, Mary Anne Broome, The Last Voyage, to India and Australia, in the Sunbeam, published 2010, page 252:

Forms