mon·key (m ng k )n. pl. mon·keys 1. Any of various long-tailed, medium-sized members of the order Primates, including the macaques, baboons, guenons, capuchins, marmosets, and tamarins and excluding the anthropoid apes and the prosimians. 2. One who behaves in a way suggestive of a monkey, as a mischievous child or a mimic. 3. The iron block of a pile driver. 4. Slang A person who is mocked, duped, or made to appear a fool: They made a monkey out of him. 5. Slang Drug addiction: have a monkey on one's back. v. mon·keyed, mon·key·ing, mon·keys v.intr. Informal 1. To play, fiddle, trifle, or tamper with something. 2. To behave in a mischievous or apish manner: Stop monkeying around! v.tr. To imitate or mimic; ape. [Origin unknown.] |
monkeys
- macaque - Based on Bantu kaku, "monkey," and ma, denoting a plural, translating to "some monkeys."
- monkey business - A transfer of the tricks of monkeys to human behavior.
- barrel of monkeys - Monkeys are usually a source of merriment, so if one had a barrelful of them, one supposes this to be quite hilarious; a group of monkeys is actually called a troop.
- see monkeys - To be overcome by the heat while working.
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