Definitions for monkey
ˈmʌŋ kimon·key

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. monkeynoun

   any of various long-tailed primates (excluding the prosimians)

2. imp, scamp, monkey, rascal, rapscallion, scalawag, scallywagverb

   one who is playfully mischievous

3. tamper, fiddle, monkeyverb

   play around with or alter or falsify, usually secretively or dishonestly

   "Someone tampered with the documents on my desk"; "The reporter fiddle with the facts"

4. putter, mess around, potter, tinker, monkey, monkey around, muck about, muck aroundverb

   do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly

   "The old lady is usually mucking about in her little house"

WiktionaryRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

1. monkeynoun

   Any of several members of the infra-order Simiiformes of primates, generally smaller than the apes, and distinguished from them by having a tail and cheek pouches.

2. monkeynoun

   A mischievous child.

   Stop misbehaving, you little monkey!

3. monkeynoun

   Five hundred pounds sterling.

4. monkeynoun

   A person or the role of the person on the sidecar platform of a motorcycle involved in sidecar racing.

5. monkeynoun

   A person with minimal intelligence and/or (bad) looks.

6. monkeynoun

   A face card.

7. monkeynoun

   A menial employee who does a repetitive job.

8. monkeyverb

   To meddle; to mess with; to interfere; to fiddle.

   Please don't monkey with the controls if you don't know what you're doing.

9. Etymology: From Moneke (compare Monequin), name of the son of Martin the Ape in Reynard the Fox, from Old mona 'mona monkey', shortening of mamona, variant of maimón, from ميمون (maimūn) 'monkey', literally 'blessed', used to ward off the monkey's bad luck.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Monkeynoun

   Etymology: monikin, a little man.

   1. An ape; a baboon; a jackanapes. An animal bearing some resemblance of man.

   One of them shewed me a ring that he had of your daughter for a monkey: Tubal, it was my turquoise; I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys. William Shakespeare.

   More new-fangled than an ape; more giddy in my desires than a monkey. William Shakespeare, As you like it.

   Other creatures, as well as monkeys, destroy their young ones by senseless fondness. John Locke, on Education.

   With glittering gold and sparkling gems they shine,
   But apes and monkeys are the gods within. George Granville.

   2. A word of contempt, or slight kindness.

   This is the monkey’s own giving out; she is persuaded I will marry her. William Shakespeare, Othello.

   Poor monkey! how wilt thou do for a father? William Shakespeare.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Monkeynoun

   in the most general sense, any one of the Quadrumana, including apes, baboons, and lemurs

2. Monkeynoun

   any species of Quadrumana, except the lemurs

3. Monkeynoun

   any one of numerous species of Quadrumana (esp. such as have a long tail and prehensile feet) exclusive of apes and baboons

4. Monkeynoun

   a term of disapproval, ridicule, or contempt, as for a mischievous child

5. Monkeynoun

   the weight or hammer of a pile driver, that is, a very heavy mass of iron, which, being raised on high, falls on the head of the pile, and drives it into the earth; the falling weight of a drop hammer used in forging

6. Monkeynoun

   a small trading vessel of the sixteenth century

7. Monkey

   to act or treat as a monkey does; to ape; to act in a grotesque or meddlesome manner

8. Etymology: [Cf. OIt. monicchio, It. monnino, dim. of monna an ape, also dame, mistress, contr. fr. madonna. See Madonna.]

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Monkey

   A monkey is a primate of the Haplorrhini suborder and simian infraorder, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey, but excluding apes and humans. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys usually have tails. Tailless monkeys may be called "apes", incorrectly according to modern usage; thus the tailless Barbary macaque is called the "Barbary ape". The New World monkeys are classified within the parvorder of Platyrrhini, whereas the Old World monkeys form part of the parvorder Catarrhini, which also includes the hominoids. Thus, as Old World monkeys are more closely related to hominoids than they are to New World monkeys, the monkeys are not a unitary group.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Monkey

   mungk′i, n. a quadrumanous mammal of the order Primates—the term is loose, and may be conveniently restricted only to all the Primates exclusive of the Anthropoid Apes, thus including the Platyrrhini, or New-World monkeys, and the Catarrhiini, or Old-World monkeys: an ape: a name of contempt, esp. for a mischievous person, also of playful endearment: a heavy weight for driving piles: a large hammer for driving bolts: in betting slang, a sum of 500 pounds, or dollars in U.S.: a fluid consisting of chlor-hydric acid and zinc—generally called spirits of salt—used in the process of soldering:—pl. Monk′eys.—v.i. to meddle with anything.—v.t. to imitate as a monkey does.—ns. Monk′ey-bag, a small money-bag, hung round the sailor's neck; Monk′ey-block, a small swivel-block used in guiding running rigging; Monk′ey-board, the omnibus conductor's foot-board; Monk′ey-boat, a narrow, half-decked river-boat; Monk′ey-bread, the baobab-tree or its fruit; Monk′ey-en′gine, a kind of pile-driver having a ram or monkey working in a wooden frame; Monk′ey-flow′er, a flower of the mimulus kind; Monk′ey-gaff, a small gaff above the spanker-gaff for the flag; Monk′ey-grass, a coarse fibre yielded by the leaf-stalks of Attalea funifera, used for brooms, street sweeping-machine brushes, &c.; Monk′ey-hamm′er, a drop-press with a ram, which is raised and let drop freely; Monk′eyism, the qualities of the monkey; Monk′ey-jack′et, a close-fitting jacket, generally made of some stout, coarse material; Monk′ey-pot, the seed-vessel of several species of Lecythis, having a round lid; Monk′ey-pump, a straw let through a gimlet-hole into a cask for the purpose of sucking the liquor; Monk′ey-puzz′le, the Chili pine, Araucaria imbricata; Monk′ey-rail, a light rail above the quarter-rail; Monk′ey-shine (U.S.), a piece of tomfoolery; Monk′ey-tail, a short lever for training carronades: a piece of knotted rope by which to attach a hook, to save the hand from jamming; Monk′ey-wheel, a tackle-block over which runs a hoisting-rope; Monk′ey-wrench, a screw-key having a movable jaw.—Have, or Get, one's monkey up, to be angry; Suck the monkey, to drink liquor from a cask through an inserted tube: to drink from a coco-nut, filled surreptitiously with rum, &c. [Old It. monicchio, dim. of Old It. monna, nickname for an old woman, an ape, contr. of It. madonna, mistress.]

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. monkey

   A machine composed of a long pig of iron, traversing in a groove, which is raised by a pulley, and let fall suddenly on the head of large bolts for driving them. A larger kind is used in pile-driving. Also, a kind of wooden kid for grog. Also, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, a small trading vessel. Also, passion; as a man's "monkey is up." Also, a machine with which the hercules facilitates the welding of anchors.

Rap DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. monkeynoun

   Elizabeth, New Jersey. Home of unsigned rapper SubZero I represent Ea$twick, yeah the 908 -- SubZero (Touch It Freestyle)

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. monkey

   Song lyrics by monkey -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by monkey on the Lyrics.com website.

Etymology and OriginsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Monkey

   From the Italian monicchio, the diminutive of monna, an ape. This word is often used as a verb--e.g. “Don’t monkey about on there,” meaning “Don’t play about or be up to monkeyish pranks.”

Matched Categories

1. • Primate
   • Work

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'monkey' in Nouns Frequency: #2866

How to pronounce monkey?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say monkey in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of monkey in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of monkey in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of monkey in a Sentence

1. AiR:

   If there is Garbage in your Mind, and it’s full of junk, it’s time to Tame your ‘Monkey Mind’, and make it into a Monk!

2. Elie Honig:

   House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is just basically talking smack, trying to throw a monkey wrench into this procedure.

3. Dallas Zoo:

   The individual targeted facilities of smaller primates and specifically compromised the Squirrel Monkey exhibit.

4. Ben Chestnut:

   All our clients asked for the same thing : software that gave them the ability to send email promotions that included graphics, plus an ability to track results … We realized we already had the parts for that. We built the tool with scrap parts from the failed e-greetings site. We even made the logo out of one of our most popular email cards : a smiling, animated monkey.

5. The Universeum:

   We think it's the same one [monkey that left the zoo], but I guess there aren't that many monkeys out and about at the moment.

Popularity rank by frequency of use