A joey is an infant kangaroo or wallaby.
These marsupials have an extremely short gestation period, and the joey is 'born' basically in a fetal state. The blind, furless, miniature newborn, the size of a jelly bean, crawls across its mother's fur to make its way into the pouch, where it latches onto a teat for food. It will not re-emerge for several months, during which time it develops fully. After this period, the joey begins to spend increasing lengths of time out of the pouch, grazing and learning survival skills. However, it returns to the pouch to sleep, and if danger threatens it will seek refuge in its mother's pouch for safety.
Joeys stay in the pouch for up to a year in some species, or until the next Joey is born.
Joey is also a common nickname, short for Joseph.
Joey is also the name of an American television sitcom, launched in 2004.
In the United Kingdom, Joey is a pejorative term used in reference to cerebral palsy sufferer Joey Deacon, and was the nickname of the threepence coin, produced until 1945.
