Stoush
noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A fight, an argument. Australia, New-Zealand, informal
"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."
- 1 To fight; to argue. Australia, informal
"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."
Example
More examples"A stoush over salaries and other entitlements is likely to see thousands of government workers walk off the job."
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.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.