mon·key

(mŭng′kē)

n. pl. mon·keys

a. Any of various tailed primates of the suborder Anthropoidea, including the macaques, baboons, capuchins, and marmosets, and excluding the apes.

b. A nonhuman ape. Not in scientific use.

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. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a person with dark skin.

v. mon·keyed, mon·key·ing, mon·keys

v.intr. Informal

1. To play, fiddle, trifle, or tamper with something: Who was monkeying with my cell phone?

2. To behave in a mischievous or apish manner: Stop monkeying around!

v.tr.

To imitate or mimic; ape.

Idiom:

monkey on one's back

1. An addiction to a drug.

2. An object of persistent worry or obsession.

[Perhaps ultimately from Middle Low German Moneke, name of a young ape in the beast epic Reynke de Vos ("Reynard the Fox"), shortening of Simoneke, diminutive (used in punning reference to Latin sīmia, ape, monkey; see simian) of the Middle High German name Simon (equivalent to English Simeon Simon).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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.