monkey

noun monkeys · monkies · monky · monkie

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. 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. Any simian, including humans.
3. broadly, proscribed, sometimes Any simian primate other than hominids; any monkey or ape. Chimpanzees are known to form bands to hunt and kill other monkeys.
4. figuratively, informal, offensive, sometimes A naughty or mischievous person, especially a child. Stop misbehaving, you cheeky little monkey!
5. figuratively, slang The person in the motorcycle sidecar in sidecar racing.
6. derogatory, figuratively Synonym of idiot: a person of minimal intelligence.

   Similar: idiot

7. derogatory, figuratively Synonym of uggo: an unattractive person, especially one whose face supposedly resembles a monkey's.

   Similar: uggo

8. derogatory, figuratively, slang Synonym of puppet: a person dancing to another's tune, a person controlled or directed by another. No, no, no, not you. I want to talk to the organ grinder, not the monkey.

   Similar: puppet

9. derogatory, figuratively, slang, usually A menial employee who does a repetitive job supposedly requiring minimal intelligence. code monkey
10. ethnic, figuratively, offensive, slang, slur A black person. 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.
11. slang, uncommon, vulgar A penis.
12. historical A small trading vessel of the sixteenth century.
13. slang The vessel in which a mess receives its full allowance of grog.
14. The weight of a pile driver or drop hammer. Someone handed me a monkey of grog. I forced myself to sip it, not down it.
15. A fluid consisting of hydrochloric acid and zinc, used in the process of soldering.
16. slang Synonym of five hundred, especially (UK) 500 pounds sterling or (US, dated) 500 dollars. [I] gave her a monkey — just half my last thou — and started to earn some more.

    Similar: five hundred

17. Synonym of face card.

    Similar: face card

18. slang A person's temper, said to be "up" when they are angry. I was out rather late one night, when the foreman of my department, who owed me a grudge, abused me like a dog, and told me I might consider myself dismissed, and that I should be paid my wages in the morning. I don't know how I kept my hands off him, for my monkey was up; […]
19. slang A drug habit; an addiction; a compulsion. Monkey: a habit, as in "I have a monkey on my back." Usually used when one is sick from lack of drugs.
20. A dance popularized by Major Lance in 1963, now usually only its upper-body dance move involving exaggerated drumming motions. Do the Monkey, yeah, Do the Monkey, yeah, Ah, twist them hips, Let your backbone slip, Now move your feet, Get on the beat...

Similar: monkey

verb monkeys · monkeying · monkeyed · monkied

1. informal, intransitive To meddle; to mess (with). Please don't monkey with the controls if you don't know what you're doing.

   Similar: interfere, fiddle

2. transitive To mimic; to ape. He winked at Liza, who monkeyed him, holding her own eye shut.

proper noun

1. The ninth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.