Definition of "wombat" [wom•bat]

• Any of several stocky burrowing Australian marsupials of the family Vombatidae, somewhat resembling a small bear and feeding mainly on grass, leaves, and roots. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Yes, "I was hit by a wombat" is in the passive voice (and properly so according to Pullum, if the wombat is a "newer and less established" element)."
• "But "I was hitting the the wombat" is not only active voice, but an image of strength and muscularity."
• "There is also a small, clumsy, inoffensive animal called the wombat, which is never found outside of these Australian regions."
• "Yes, "I was hit by a wombat" is in the passive voice (and properly so according to Pullum, if the wombat is a "newer and less established" element)."
• "But "I was hitting the the wombat" is not only active voice, but an image of strength and muscularity."
• "(For the satisfaction of his patients, I may observe, parenthetically, that the skull and the "wombat" -- that last is a creature between a miniature pig and a very small badger -- were not precisely packed up with the sarsaparilla!)"