mulga

[ muhl-guh ]

noun

, plural mul·gas, mul·ga.

1. an Australian shrub or small tree, Acacia aneura, forming dense growths in some areas and having foliage used as forage for livestock.
2. an object, as an Aboriginal shield or club, made from the wood of this tree.

mulga

/ ˈmʌlɡə /

noun

1. any of various Australian acacia shrubs, esp Acacia aneura, which grows in the central desert regions and has leaflike leafstalks
2. scrub comprised of a dense growth of acacia
3. the outback; bush

Word History and Origins

Origin of mulga¹

First recorded in 1830–40; from Yuwaalaraay (an Australian Aboriginal language spoken near Lightning Ridge, northern New South Wales) malga

Word History and Origins

Origin of mulga¹

from a native Australian language

Example Sentences

The chance sighting of a dead snake beside a sandy track in remote Western Australia, and the investigation of its stomach contents, has led Curtin University researchers to record the first known instance of a spotted mulga snake consuming a pygmy spiny-tailed skink, raising concerns for a similar-looking, endangered lizard species.

From Science Daily

Dr Bradley said despite Australia's rich biodiversity of reptiles, there exists a significant gap in understanding their ecology, with the spotted mulga snake and the pygmy and western spiny-tailed skinks prime examples of understudied and quite mysterious reptiles.

From Science Daily

We also saw the occasional camel, either moving through the mulga trees, its guttural bellows audible a mile away, or lying dead, limbs akimbo, where it had been hit by a car.

From Washington Post

Cattle are grazers—ground feeders—but in the absence of grass, ranchers have taken measures to force their herds to behave like browsers, pulling down live mulga trees so that the cattle can get at the leaves.

From Salon

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office tells news outlets that the 1-year-old and 2-year-old died in the fire near Mulga early Tuesday.

From Washington Times