Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Australia A bundle of possessions, often tied up in a sack; a swag.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Unknown.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word matilda.

Examples

  • HEY MICHELLE, IM SERIOUS, check up with a stylist .... matilda Johnson

    Obama to GOP: 'Lay off my wife' 2008

  • Get well soon the people of this country needs you. matilda Johnson

    'Stunned silence' in the Capitol 2008

  • OH hai, LadyM…once a jolly swagman, camped by a billagong, under da shade ub a kooliba tree and he sang as sat an wayted wile his billy boiled, yull come a waltzing matilda wif me…happy to refresh da eerwurm fur ya!

    Someday my prints will come… - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008

  • Now I can expend less energy imagining what a blonde / brunette woman would look like naked, trapped in a cage. matilda 3:50 pm on July 17, 2008 | # | Reply i always have trouble with the description of sexuality as power.

    OH, PETA, YOU MAKE MY WORK SO EASY » Sociological Images 2008

  • The Germans suddenly discovered they had nothing that could take out a matilda -- they even seemed to be stuka proof top armour of 2 makes it hard with bombs.

    Camp Cromwell 17/03/2005 Nick 2005

  • Eventually he left a matilda lend leased to the Ruskies to guard the objective -- but I was able to move to threaten the other objective, so he had to use his AA to protect that one .....

    Archive 2005-07-01 Nick 2005

  • Eventually he left a matilda lend leased to the Ruskies to guard the objective -- but I was able to move to threaten the other objective, so he had to use his AA to protect that one .....

    Fort Floreat 06/07/05 Nick 2005

  • The Germans suddenly discovered they had nothing that could take out a matilda -- they even seemed to be stuka proof top armour of 2 makes it hard with bombs.

    Archive 2005-03-01 Nick 2005

  • He was pretty angry, all right; I began to understand that if Carl Gustaf hadn't survived it would have been waltzing matilda for Flashy if Sapten had had his way.

    Royal Flash Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 1970

  • Cant imagine you strippin, but hey matilda rhe hun has done some awesome dancin to "have you ever been mellow" down in tijuana with that infamous donkey of hers, so anythings possible.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Australia. A swag or bedroll. To go waltzing matilda is to wander the countryside.

    February 7, 2007

  • And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled.

    February 7, 2007

  • Anybody know the swagman's name?

    November 27, 2007

  • Jolly.

    No wait! It was Andy.

    ;)

    November 27, 2007

  • I declare chained_bear the winner.

    There's some speculation that matilda is meaningless as there is scant evidence of its usage beyond this song. Perhaps a pet name for someone Paterson loved.

    November 27, 2007

  • Well, it's also quite possibly the greatest book Roald Dahl ever wrote.

    November 27, 2007

  • Bilby, do you mean scant evidence of its usage today, or scant evidence of its ever having been used outside the poem/song?

    I would argue it's kind of like mome raths or brillig--sure it wasn't (and isn't) used much outside the poem, but by virtue of the poem achieving great visibility, the terms have now entered the language, so... Paterson's job here is done. :)

    November 27, 2007

  • During his lifetime, mainly. I just remember a time when the women's soccer team was looking for a nickname - all the iconic animals had already been spoken for - and came up with The Matildas. And there was a bit of chit-chat about what a matilda might be and no-one really knew.

    November 27, 2007

  • "Waltzing Matilda" by A.B. ("Banjo") Paterson (as comments below attest). (This comment's for gangerh's "songbirds" list.)

    February 9, 2008

  • Matilda by Roald Dahl

    June 16, 2012