bombora

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Australian Aboriginal, most likely Dharug bumbora (“a current off Dobroyd Head, Port Jackson”). [1][2]

Noun

bombora (plural bomboras)

  1. (Australia) A shallow isolated piece of reef located a distance offshore.
    • 1963, Patrick Gordon Taylor, The Sky Beyond‎, page 269:
      The superior local knowledge of the Easter Island boatmen was a distracting influence, but on the way in I had decided to anchor on the sandy patch close under the bombora.
    • 1993, Tim Winton, Land's Edge, Picador, published 2014, page 10:
      The remainder of my life was indoor stuff […] but even from school I could see the bomboras breaking way out to sea on a high swell, there at the corner of my eye.
    • 2008, Yvette Allum, The Lonely Sea, unnumbered page:
      It took Sue Dockar a good half hour to swim out to her target bombora, a moderate swim in spearfishing terms.
    • 2012, Phil Jarratt, Australia's Hottest 100 Surfing Legends, unnumbered page:
      He was also considered to be one of Australia's best big-wave riders, tackling the Queenscliff and Bare Island bomboras on the very biggest days.

Synonyms

References
  1. 1966, Sidney J. Baker, The Australian Language, second edition, chapter XV, section 3, page 321.
  2. 1933 May 27, The Bulletin, page 24, quoted in 1985, G. A. Wilkes, A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms, second edition, Sydney University Press, →ISBN — Bombora is an aboriginal word applied to the high-crested wave which breaks ... over submerged rocks near the coastline.

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