Standard Lemma guide

stoush

noun · verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /staʊʃ/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -aʊʃ

1

noun

Meaning 1

A fight, an argument.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia, New-Zealand, informal

Examples

  • 1996, Elizabeth Knox, Glamour and the Sea, Victoria University Press, New Zealand, page 166, Barry explained that his friend wasn′t drunk, he′d been in a stoush, had a ding on his head and was covered in money.
  • 2008, Anna Haebich, Spinning the Dream: Assimilation in Australia 1950-1970, Fremantle Press, page 63, Melbourne almost lost the event when union go-slow tactics and a stoush over federal and state funding responsibilities seriously delayed work on the construction of the Olympic Stadium and Village.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To fight; to argue.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia, informal

Examples

  • 1916, C. J. Dennis, The Call of Stoush, The Moods of Ginger Mick, 2009, Sydney University Press, page 15, Wot price ole Ginger Mick? ′E′s done a break— / Gone to the flamin′ war to stoush the foe.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Possibly from stash. Australian from 1893; Boer War military slang. Also may be derived from stushie or stooshie, a Scottish term for a commotion, rumpus, or row.