kanga

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

A prison warder.

Register: slang

Where it’s used: Used American English

Examples

There are some 32 different terms for prison officers, from the humorously affectionate kanga(rhyming slang:kangaroo = screw) and the variants Scooby-Doo and Dr. Who via the mildly confrontational German (as if still the enemy over 50 years after World War II!) to the outright abuse of shit-parcel.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “kanga” mean?

A prison warder.

Is “kanga” formal or informal?

kanga is generally slang.