menagerie

noun me·nag·er·ie \ mə-ˈnaj-rē , -ˈna-jə- also -ˈnazh-rē , -ˈna-zhə- \

|Updated on: 19 Jun 2018

Examples: menagerie in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of menagerie

1 a : a place where animals are kept and trained especially for exhibition

b : a collection of wild or foreign animals kept especially for exhibition

2 : a varied mixture

a menagerie of comedians
—TV Guide

A menagerie of grotesque statues stood in the garden.

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Examples of menagerie in a Sentence

a menagerie of rare creatures
the living room is eclectically furnished with a menagerie of garage-sale finds

Recent Examples of menagerie from the Web

Juris used to be the menagerie caretaker there, but a jaguar attack had put him out of his right mind.

— chicago tribune, chicagotribune.com, "Algren Award runner-up: "Am I Not Your Animal" by Matt Jones," 2 June 2018
Yet our inner menagerie is not simply a random sampling of the microbial traffic flowing around us.

— carl zimmer, STAT, "Shot through with microbes: How our bodies adapt to a hidden world of bacteria," 30 May 2018
This program is arguably the worst farm subsidy, which is saying something, featuring a menagerie of sweetened loans, restrictions on sales and import quotas for some of America’s richest people.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "A Chance for Sugar Welfare Reform," 15 May 2018
Miyazaki’s was My Neighbor Totoro, a fantasy about a pair of young girls who move to the countryside and befriend a menagerie of forest spirits including the giant Totoro, who travels around in a catbus.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "The Sprawling Legacy of Isao Takahata, Co-Founder of Studio Ghibli," 12 Apr. 2018
Creature Teachers is based in Massachusetts and has a menagerie of unusual critters.

— kitty leshay, Courant Community, "Exotic Animals Descend On Library," 2 May 2018
Its menagerie of native birds, and position as a way station for many other migrating birds, makes birds a particular target.

— jenny staletovich, miamiherald, "South Florida bird smuggling ring headed to court | Miami Herald," 13 Apr. 2018
Oakland’s Briley Farm, whose Lake Apopka-front property boasts a menagerie of zebras, wildebeests and watusi cattle, features a photo of peacocks on its website.

— stephen hudak, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Oakland hires trapper to nab 'gorgeous' but 'nasty' peacocks after complaints," 3 Apr. 2018
His wonderful picture of the tortoise crossing the finish line in the famous race shows a menagerie in attendance.

— thomas hine, Philly.com, "Woodmere's Charles Santore show is a trove of illustration, from Columbo to Cowardly Lion," 28 Mar. 2018

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

Did You Know?

Back in the days of Middle French, ménagerie meant "the management of a household" or farm or "a place where animals are tended." By the 1670s, English speakers had adopted the word but dropped its housekeeping aspects, applying it specifically to the places where circuses and other exhibitions kept show animals. Later, the word was generalized to refer to any varied mixture, especially one that includes things that are strange or foreign to one's experience.