monkey
noun
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Definition of monkey
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : a nonhuman primate mammal with the exception usually of the lemurs and tarsiers especially : any of the smaller longer-tailed catarrhine or platyrrhine primates as contrasted with the apes
2a : a person resembling a monkey
b : a ludicrous figure : dupe
3 : any of various machines, implements, or vessels especially : the falling weight of a pile driver
4 : a desperate desire for or addiction to drugs —often used in the phrase monkey on one's back broadly : a persistent or annoying encumbrance or problem
monkey
verbDefinition of monkey (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : to act in a grotesque or mischievous manner
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Synonyms for monkey
Synonyms: Noun
devil, hellion, imp, mischief, rapscallion, rascal, rogue, scamp, urchin
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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
Human and horse skulls, a monkey skeleton and other specimens add variety. — Susan Dunne, courant.com, "Yale's Cushing Library Is A Brainiac's Dream Come True," 2 May 2018 Or Brazilian capuchin monkeys that use heavy stones to smash hard nuts against flat boulders that serve as anvils. — Jonathan Balcombe, Scientific American, "Fishes Use Problem-Solving and Invent Tools," 1 May 2017 In doing so, the monkeys became the first of their genus and the fourth of all nonhuman primates to enter the Stone Age, so to speak. — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, "Did the Human Hand Evolve as a Lean Mean Bone-Smashing Machine?," 13 July 2018 The fact that Marcel the monkey is also under the illusion that 52 years of hurt are coming to an end shows how ingenious this meme is. — SI.com, "It's Coming Home: 6 of the Best England World Cup Memes of the Summer So Far," 11 July 2018 The monkeys tend to live in small groups of four to 10 with a dominant male, adult females, and offspring. — Laney Ruckstuhl, BostonGlobe.com, "At Franklin Park Zoo, visitors can now see a baby monkey," 20 June 2018 Early next morning there was the sound of music: surely the monkey’s funeral. — Victoria Mather, A-LIST, "India Files: the Princely Grandeur of Rajasthan," 20 June 2018 Anyone who finds the monkey is asked to call animal control at 864-582-1558. — Mark Price, charlotteobserver, "A monkey is on the run in South Carolina, and it loves to make itself at home," 8 June 2018 Curious George Curious George, the inquisitive little monkey from the children’s book series by Margret and H.A. Rey, is the star of a play area at Connecticut Science Center in Hartford. — Susan Dunne, courant.com, "Two Summer Exhibits For The Kids: Curious George And Clifford The Big Red Dog," 7 June 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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More Definitions for monkey
monkey
noun
English Language Learners Definition of monkey
: a type of animal that is closely related to apes and humans and that has a long tail and usually lives in trees
: a person (especially a child) who causes trouble in a playful way
See the full definition for monkey in the English Language Learners Dictionary
monkey
noun
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Kids Definition of monkey
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a furry animal of warm regions that has a long tail and that along with the apes is most closely related to humans
monkey
verbKids Definition of monkey (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : to spend time in an idle or aimless way We just monkeyed around in the gym.
2 : to handle secretly or in a careless or incorrect way He didn't want anyone monkeying with the cash register … —George Selden, The Cricket in Times Square
monkey
noun
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Medical Definition of monkey
: a nonhuman primate mammal with the exception usually of the lemurs and tarsiers especially : any of the smaller longer-tailed primates as contrasted with the apes
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