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monkey

[muhng-kee]

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noun

any mammal of the order Primates, including the guenons, macaques, langurs, and capuchins, but excluding humans, the anthropoid apes, and, usually, the tarsier and prosimians. Compare New World monkey, Old World monkey.

the fur of certain species of such long-haired animals.

a person likened to such an animal, as a mischievous, agile child or a mimic.

a dance, deriving from the twist, in which the partners move their hands as if climbing a pole and jerk their heads back and forth.

Slang. an addiction to narcotics.

EXPAND

any of various mechanical devices, as the ram of a pile driver.

Coal Mining. a small passageway or opening.

British Slang. the sum of 500 pounds.

Australian Informal. a sheep.

COLLAPSE

verb (used without object)

10.

Informal. to play or trifle idly; fool (often followed by around or with).

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Monkey is always a great word to know.

So is tripe. Does it mean:

excessive absorption in self-analysis or focus on a single issue

speech or writing that is false or worthless; rubbish

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verb (used with object)

11.

to imitate; ape; mimic.

12.

to mock.

Idioms

13.

a monkey on one's back, Slang.

an addiction to a drug or drugs; narcotic dependency.

an enduring and often vexing habit or urge.

a burdensome problem, situation, or responsibility; personal affliction or hindrance.

14.

make a monkey out of, to cause to appear ridiculous; make a fool of. Also, make a monkey of.

Origin:
1520–30; apparently < Low German; compare Middle Low German Moneke (name of son of Martin the Ape in the story of Reynard), equivalent to mone- (akin to obsolete French monne she-ape, Spanish, Portuguese mono ape) + -ke diminutive suffix

Related forms

mon·key·ish, adjective

mon·key·ish·ly, adverb

mon·key·ish·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To monkey

Example Sentences

Drug companies have also bought up commercial monkey colonies, further depleting populations.

He would, for instance, mark that a monkey had turned its head when the monkey didn't so much as flinch.

But those looking for a monkey motherese translation will be disappointed.

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Drug companies have also bought up commercial monkey colonies, further depleting populations.

He would, for instance, mark that a monkey had turned its head when the monkey didn't so much as flinch.

But those looking for a monkey motherese translation will be disappointed.

Because we're not yet ready to monkey with our own selves that way.

The joker in the deck is a vervet monkey who also likes the fruit the staff puts out.

The sunny trail back to the lot has vetch, vinca, gilia and monkey flower.

Researchers train a monkey to feed itself by guiding a mechanical arm with its mind.

The owl monkey is monochromatic, seeing only in black and white.

Squirrel monkey playfighting: making the case for cognitive training function for play.

Seymour, our monkey mascot, points the way to family-friendly places in the museum.

Populin doesn't usually study monkey self-awareness.

Thanks to the monkey god, the monkey catcher leaves them be.

One of these targets would give the monkey advance information about its future reward.

As the old saying goes, you can't pop the bloon unless you pay the monkey.

Chimps eat monkeys, which is likely how they acquired the monkey viruses.

Researchers who once dismissed another team's cloning method used the disputed process to create monkey embryos.

In each session a monkey was presented with a number of dots.

When our robotic overlords finally do take over, there's a decent chance they'll do it with monkey brains.

Despite their name, these rare primates have far more in common with their monkey relatives than any feline.

If a monkey looked at the speaker, this was taken as an indication that a difference was noticed.

Japanese macaques, also called snow monkeys, live farther north than any other monkey species.

The goal, of course, is to be the last monkey standing.

Mani the monkey was never trained to herd goats, but somehow she manages anyway.

Pierolapithecus's thorax is similar to that of modern great apes because it is wider and flatter than a monkey ribcage.

It includes mild profanity and monkey bathroom jokes.

Monkey was way too mischievious and disruptive in legend.

Pictured moments before humans ate it, a snub-nosed monkey represents a new species that sneezes when it rains.

One clue would be if the monkey chose to spend more time near the human imitator than the nonimitator, after the ball game.

Squid light shows, monkey hugs and chickadee alarms.

All have funnel-shaped, two-lipped flowers said to resemble a grinning monkey face-hence the common name.

Some of the troop is captured by the monkey catcher and the remaining gang must defend their temple against larger monkeys.

All have funnel-shaped, two-lipped flowers said to resemble a grinning monkey face-hence the.

The male rhesus monkey is the world's first genetically modified primate.

The brain of the macaque monkey has a distinct area dedicated to recognizing faces, according to a new study.

Scientists have made reprogrammed stem cells from an endangered rhinoceros and a monkey.

Given enough time and money, any grease monkey can design a fuel-efficient, low-emissions car.

Only a real monkey expert can help these frightened.

The dung beetles come to the howler monkey dung and they form little balls of it, and then.

Our best conception of the cosmos is that of a curious monkey playing with a piece of broken mirror.

The neurons fired more vigorously when the monkey made up his mind to go for.

Researchers have found that the highly social and cooperative brown capuchin monkey shows a sense of fairness.

Trek into the rain forests with a spider monkey expert.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

monkey (ˈmʌŋkɪ)

—n
1.	Old World monkey See New World monkey any of numerous long-tailed primates excluding the prosimians (lemurs, tarsiers, etc): comprise the families Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys), Cebidae (New World monkeys), and Callithricidae (marmosets)Related: simian
2.	any primate except man
3.	a naughty or mischievous person, esp a child
4.	the head of a pile-driver (monkey engine) or of some similar mechanical device
5.	(modifier) nautical denoting a small light structure or piece of equipment contrived to suit an immediate purpose: a monkey foresail; a monkey bridge
6.	slang (US), (Canadian) an addict's dependence on a drug (esp in the phrase have a monkey on one's back)
7.	slang a butt of derision; someone made to look a fool (esp in the phrase make a monkey of)
8.	slang (esp in bookmaking) £500
9.	slang (US), (Canadian) $500
10.	slang, archaic (Austral) a sheep
11.	slang (Brit) give a monkey's to care about or regard as important: who gives a monkey's what he thinks?

—vb
12.	(intr; usually foll by around, with, etc) to meddle, fool, or tinker
13.	rare (tr) to imitate; ape

Related: simian

[C16: perhaps from Low German; compare Middle Low German Moneke name of the ape's son in the tale of Reynard the Fox]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

monkey

1530, likely from an unrecorded M.L.G. *moneke or M.Du. *monnekijn, a colloquial word for "monkey," originally a dim. of some Romanic word, cf. Fr. monne (16c.), O.It. monna, Sp. mona. In a 1498 Low Ger. version of the popular medieval beast story "Roman de Renart" ("Reynard the Fox"), Moneke is the

EXPAND

name given to the son of Martin the Ape. The O.Fr. form of the name is Monequin (recorded as Monnekin in a 14c. version from Hainault), which could be a dim. of some personal name, or it could be from the general Romanic word, which may be ult. from Arabic maimun "monkey," lit. "auspicious," a euphemistic usage because the sight of apes was held by the Arabs to be unlucky. The word would have been influenced in It. by folk-etymology from monna "woman," a contraction of ma donna "my lady." Monkey has been used affectionately for "child" since 1605. As a type of modern popular dance, it is attested from 1964. Monkeyshines is first recorded 1832, Amer.Eng.; monkey business attested from 1883. Monkey suit "fancy uniform" is from 1886. Monkey wrench is attested from 1858; its fig. sense of "Something that obstructs operations" is from the notion of one getting jammed in the gears of machinery (cf. spanner in the works). To make a monkey of someone is attested from 1900. To have a monkey on one's back "be addicted" is 1930s narcotics slang, though the same phrase in the 1860s meant "to be angry." There is a story in the Sinbad cycle about a tormenting ape-like creature that mounts a man's shoulders and won't get off, which may be the root of the term. In 1890s British slang, to have a monkey up the chimney meant "to have a mortgage on one's house." The three wise monkeys ("see no evil," etc.) are attested from 1926.

COLLAPSE

Slang Dictionary

monkey definition

n.
a playful child. (Also a term of address.) : Come here, you little monkey!
n.
a drug addiction. (Drugs. See also have a monkey on (one's) back.) : That monkey of mine is getting hungry again.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

monkey

In addition to the idioms beginning with monkey, also see fool (monkey) around; make a fool (monkey) of; more fun than a barrel of monkeys; throw a monkey wrench.