See Also: Monkey-pot(medicine)
monkey-paw(medicine)
Monkey(medicine)
monkey nut(dictionary)
monkey(1)(dictionary)
monkey(2)(dictionary)
monkey(encyclopedia)
Monkey(casino)
monkey-cup(medicine)
monkey (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)

monkey(1) (iou)



monkey noun. M16.
[Origin uncertain: perh. from Low German dim. of Proto-Romance word (whence French monne, Italian monna, Spanish, Portuguese mono, -a).]
I.
Any of numerous primates of a group including the families Cebidae (capuchins, howler monkeys, etc.), Callitricidae (marmosets, tamarins, etc.), and Cercopithecidae (baboons, macaques, colobuses, etc.), esp. any of the long-tailed kinds. M16.
capuchin monkey, green monkey, Japanese monkey, moustached monkey, New World monkey, Old World monkey, rhesus monkey, Sykes's monkey, spider monkey, etc.
b. The fur of any of certain monkeys. L19.
a. A person who performs comical antics; a mimic. L16.
b. A mischievous person, esp. a child; a rascal, a scamp. E17.
Byron A little curly-headed, good-for-nothing, And mischief-making monkey from his birth.
A sheep. Austral. L19.
the monkey, a kind of dance performed to rock music. M20.
II. A kind of gun or cannon. Only in M17.
Any of various appliances; spec. a pile-driving machine consisting of a heavy hammer or ram working vertically in a groove (also monkey engine); the ram of such a machine. M18.
A receptacle for liquor; esp. a globular earthenware water vessel with a straight upright neck. M19.
Five hundred pounds sterling. slang. M19.
Phrases (chiefly colloq. & slang): a barrel of monkeys, a cart-load of monkeys, a wagon-load of monkeys, etc.: a type of something extremely cunning, mischievous, jolly, or disorderly. cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey coarse slang extremely cold (see also brass-monkey(s) s.v. BRASS adjective). grease monkey: see GREASE noun. have a monkey on one's back, have the monkey on one's back (slang, orig. US) be addicted to a drug. have one's monkey up, get one's monkey up be angry. make a monkey of, make a monkey out of colloq. humiliate by making appear ridiculous. monkey on a stick a toy consisting of the figure of a monkey able to slide up and down a stick, used as a type of restlessness or agitation. monkey's allowance harsh treatment and little pay. not give a monkey's (fuck), not care a monkey's (fuck) & vars., coarse slang not care at all; be completely indifferent or unconcerned. put a person's monkey up annoy, anger, (a person). softly softly catchee monkey: see SOFTLY adverb 3. STUFFED monkey. suck the monkey drink liquor from the bottle, or from a coconut shell, or from a cask using a straw; gen. tipple. three monkeys, three wise monkeys a conventional sculptured group of three monkeys, one with its paws over its mouth ('speak no evil'), one with its paws over its eyes ('see no evil'), and one with its paws over its ears ('hear no evil'); used allusively to refer to people who choose to ignore or keep silent about wrongdoing etc. where the monkey keeps his nuts, where the monkey puts his nuts coarse slang in the anus.
Comb.: monkey-apple (the fruit of) any of various tropical trees and shrubs, esp. (a) Anisophyllea laurina (family Anisophyllaceae) of W. Africa; (b) a neotropical plant of the genus Annona (family Annonaceae); monkey bars a piece of playground equipment consisting of a ladder mounted horizontally above the ground, for children to swing from; monkey-board a footboard at the back of a vehicle for a footman etc. to stand on; monkey-boat (a) a long narrow canal boat; (b) a small boat used as a tender; monkey bread (the fruit of) the baobab tree; monkey bridge Nautical a small raised platform above a bridge, deck-house, etc., on a ship; monkey business colloq. mischief, trickery, fooling about; monkey-chaser US slang (racially offensive) a black person from the W. Indies or other tropical region; monkey-eating eagle a very large eagle, Pithecophaga jefferyi, native to the Philippines; monkey engine: see sense 6 above; monkey-face a face like a monkey's; a funny face; W. Indies colloq. a grimace; monkey-faced adjective having a face like a monkey's; monkey-faced owl (US colloq.), the barn owl; monkey flower any of various plants of the genus Mimulus, of the figwort family, esp. the yellow-flowered N. American M. guttatus; monkey gland colloq. a gland or testicle from a monkey or another primate, grafted on to a man as a possible means of rejuvenation; monkey-house a building at a zoo etc. in which monkeys are kept; monkey island Nautical = monkey bridge above; monkey-jacket a short close-fitting jacket worn by sailors etc. or at a mess; monkey-man (a) US slang a weak and servile husband; (b) a man resembling a monkey; monkey nut a peanut; monkey orchestra a group of Meissen or other porcelain figures representing monkeys playing musical instruments; monkey orchid, monkey orchis a rare orchid, Orchis simia, native to Europe and the Mediterranean region, the flower having a purple lip suggesting a monkey in shape; monkey parade slang a social gathering of young people out of doors; monkey-pod (tree) the rain-tree or saman, Albizia saman; monkey-pot any of certain Brazilian trees of the genus Lecythis (family Lecythidaceae); the woody seed-vessel of such a tree, formerly used as a trap for monkeys; monkeypox a virus disease of monkeys (transmissible to humans), similar to smallpox; monkey-puzzle (tree), monkey-puzzler a large evergreen pine, Araucaria araucana, native to Chile, having whorled branches densely covered with leaves; also called Chile pine; monkey-rope S. Afr. any of various climbing plants, esp. Secamone alpinii (family Asclepiadaceae); monkey's fist a thick knot made at the end of a rope to give it weight when it is thrown; monkeyshine US slang = monkey trick below (usu. in pl.); monkey suit slang a uniform; a formal dress suit, evening dress; monkey trial a trial of a teacher for teaching evolutionary theories, contrary to the laws of certain States of the US; spec. that of J. T. Scopes in Tennessee in 1925; monkey trick a mischievous, foolish, or underhand trick or act; an antic; (usu. in pl.); monkey wrench a wrench or spanner having an adjustable jaw; throw a monkey wrench into the works (colloq.), cause confusion or trouble (cf. throw a spanner in the works s.v. SPANNER noun1).