n., pl., -keys.
- 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.
- One who behaves in a way suggestive of a monkey, as a mischievous child or a mimic.
- The iron block of a pile driver.
- Slang. A person who is mocked, duped, or made to appear a fool: They made a monkey out of him.
- Slang. Drug addiction: have a monkey on one's back.
v., -keyed, -key·ing, -keys. v.intr. Informal
- To play, fiddle, trifle, or tamper with something.
- To behave in a mischievous or apish manner: Stop monkeying around!
To imitate or mimic; ape.
[Origin unknown.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
