monkey
noun
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Definition of monkey
(Entry 1 of 2)
monkey
verbDefinition of monkey (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms for monkey
Synonyms: Noun
addiction, dependence (also dependance), habit, jones [slang]
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Examples of monkey in a Sentence
Noun
He's quite a cheeky little monkey, isn't he? I've got this monkey on my back, and going to detox is the only way to get it off.Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
In Olivier Tallec’s illustrations, Monkey wears a red baseball cap and is, well, a monkey. — Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, "Children’s Books: The Travails and Triumphs of Derring-Do," 22 Feb. 2019 In recent years, ceremonial first-pitchers have veered more toward spectacle than sport (think Kardashians, toddlers, Chewbacca, Miss Texas, even a real monkey). — Malia Wollan, New York Times, "How to Throw Out a Ceremonial First Pitch," 3 July 2018 Foxes, snakes, birds, chickens, monkeys, cougars, and coyotes have all shown the ability to live in cities. — Aditi Shrikant, BostonGlobe.com, "When wild animals urbanize," 13 July 2018 Over the past decade, Iran has frequently test-fired and displayed missiles, sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. — Nasser Karimi, The Seattle Times, "Iranians mark anniversary of victory day in 1979 revolution," 11 Feb. 2019 Now, where could such a monkey light live in your home? — Kaitlin Menza, House Beautiful, "Do You Love Or Hate This Monkey Lamp?," 30 Jan. 2019 Among the more exotic selfie accidents AIG has seen: tourists pose with a monkey in a tree behind them. — Scott Mccartney, WSJ, "Travel Mistakes That Can Land You in the Hospital," 7 Nov. 2018 Animals like spiders and monkeys have also helped scientists create new types of robots. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Studying Bees Could Make Drones Turn Better," 21 Nov. 2018 But DeSantis’s comments fit into an extensive history of calling black people monkeys or primates. — P.r. Lockhart, Vox, "Republican Ron DeSantis says electing black opponent Andrew Gillum would “monkey this up”," 29 Aug. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Vieux Carre home owners and hoteliers have traditionally applied grease to the poles to prevent such monkeying around. — Doug Maccash, NOLA.com, "Greasing of the Poles: The slippery Mardi Gras ceremony is Feb. 9," 25 Jan. 2018 But there’s no stopping the construction now, so signing Kaepernick would not monkey-wrench the stadium. — Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, "Colin Kaepernick a phone call away from being Raiders’ backup QB," 20 Jan. 2018 Last year our smokestacks and tailpipes puffed out more than 60 trillion pounds of the greenhouse gas, monkeying with the planet’s climate and acidifying the oceans. — NBC News, "Can a Carbon 'Vacuum Cleaner' Save the Planet?," 1 Nov. 2017 Not seeing too many Kobe’s here at Electric Zoo as Bad Royale aren’t monkeying around with an energetic mix of electro, dub and dancehall. — Ryan Middleton, Billboard, "Electric Zoo 2017 Day 1 Highlights: DJ Snake, Galantis, Sasha & John Digweed and More," 2 Sep. 2017 Many generations of monkeying around ensued, aided by the relative lack of natural predators (other than alligators, which often eat young, naïve primates on the riverbanks). — Tamara Lush, chicagotribune.com, "Monkey troupe vexes Florida park, goes viral on social media," 11 July 2017 There’s very little Congress can do that people take more personally than monkeying around with healthcare. — Cathleen Decker, latimes.com, "Vulnerable House Republicans fear political consequences after healthcare vote," 5 May 2017 Again, negotiators might monkey around a bit with the formula for how rapidly the Obamacare Medicaid expansion is killed and how deeply the long-term Medicaid cap would bite. — Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Here Are the Ways the GOP’s Senate Health Care Bill Won’t Be Getting Any Less Mean," 22 June 2017 Why do thriving sports feel the need to monkey around with their product? — George Vecsey, New York Times, "Soccer and Baseball Just Can’t Leave Well Enough Alone," 10 Feb. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'monkey.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
11 "Problems" Inspired by Animal Names
11 "Problems" Inspired by Animal Names
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Dictionary Entries near monkey
Statistics for monkey
Last Updated
23 Apr 2019
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for monkey
The first known use of monkey was circa 1530
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More Definitions for monkey
monkey
noun
English Language Learners Definition of monkey
See the full definition for monkey in the English Language Learners Dictionary
monkey
noun
\
Kids Definition of monkey
(Entry 1 of 2)
monkey
verbKids Definition of monkey (Entry 2 of 2)
monkey
noun
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Medical Definition of monkey
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