green monkey

noun

Updated on: 23 Mar 2018

Definition of green monkey

: a long-tailed monkey of any of several African subspecies of a guenon (Cercopithecus aethiops synonym Chloroebus aethiops) having greenish-appearing hair and often used in medical research — called also vervet

Recent Examples of green monkey from the Web

At Thebes, in the tomb of the Valley of the Kings, He was depicted in a hieroglyph, his forelegs gently tethered By two slaves with a green monkey clinging to his neck like a child Just along for the ride.

— connie bruck, The New Yorker, "Giraffe," 14 Mar. 2018
Jakob Segal, an East German biologist who promoted the Soviet campaign, seized on growing doubts from a theory that the virus had jumped from African green monkeys to humans.

— linda qiu, New York Times, "Fingerprints of Russian Disinformation: From AIDS to Fake News," 12 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'green monkey.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of green monkey

First Known Use of green monkey

1758

Medical Dictionary

green monkey

noun

medical Definition of green monkey

: a long-tailed African monkey of the genus Cercopithecus (C. aethiops) that has greenish-appearing hair and is often used in medical research — called also vervet monkey