monkey

Noun

Noun

×

A word that identifies a person, place, thing, or idea.

Plural

monkeys

Verb

Verb

×

A word that expresses an action, state, or occurrence.

present (v1)

monkey

past (v2)

monkeyed

past participle (v3)

monkeyed

present participle

monkeying

3rd person singular

monkeys

Noun

Noun

×

A word that identifies a person, place, thing, or idea.

1. 1.A member of the clade Simiiformes other than those in the clade Hominoidea containing apes, generally (but not universally) distinguished by small size, tails, and cheek pouches.

   • They thought of, I don’t know, monkeys and caipirinhas and samba.”
   • He had been visiting an area zoo when a monkey swung from its tree perch, swiped his glasses and hurled them into a hippo hole.

2. 2.Any simian, including humans.

   • You look like a monkey.

3. 3.Any simian primate other than hominids; any monkey or ape.

   • Chimpanzees are known to form bands to hunt and kill other monkeys.

4. 4.A human considered to resemble monkeys in some way, including:

   • Stop misbehaving, you cheeky little monkey!
   • No, no, no, not you. I want to talk to the organ grinder, not the monkey.
   • Animalistic dehumanisation, 'simianisation' and the animalising of black bodies through metaphorically likening these individuals to 'baboons,' 'monkeys' or 'apes' reveals racialised animality discourse in South Africa.

Verb

Verb

×

A word that expresses an action, state, or occurrence.

1. 1.To meddle; to mess (with).(informal)

   • Please don't monkey with the controls if you don't know what you're doing.
   • “As an inventor,” Bob Mason suggested, “you're a howling success at shooting craps! […] Why monkey with weak imitations when you can come close to the original?”

2. 2.To mimic; to ape.

   • He winked at Liza, who monkeyed him, holding her own eye shut.

Overall

Uncommon· #3949

By learning goal

Everyday conversation

Rare

General reading & writing

Uncommon

Academic

Rare

Literature

Rare