Monkey

Monkey, mungk′i, n. a quadrumanous mammal of the order Primates—the term is loose, and may be conveniently restricted only to all the Primates exclusive of the Anthropoid Apes, thus including the Platyrrhini, or New-World monkeys, and the Catarrhiini, or Old-World monkeys: an ape: a name of contempt, esp. for a mischievous person, also of playful endearment: a heavy weight for driving piles: a large hammer for driving bolts: in betting slang, a sum of 500 pounds, or dollars in U.S.: a fluid consisting of chlor-hydric acid and zinc—generally called spirits of salt—used in the process of soldering:—pl. Monk′eys.—v.i. to meddle with anything.—v.t. to imitate as a monkey does.—ns. Monk′ey-bag, a small money-bag, hung round the sailor's neck; Monk′ey-block, a small swivel-block used in guiding running rigging; Monk′ey-board, the omnibus conductor's foot-board; Monk′ey-boat, a narrow, half-decked river-boat; Monk′ey-bread, the baobab-tree or its fruit; Monk′ey-en′gine, a kind of pile-driver having a ram or monkey working in a wooden frame; Monk′ey-flow′er, a flower of the mimulus kind; Monk′ey-gaff, a small gaff above the spanker-gaff for the flag; Monk′ey-grass, a coarse fibre yielded by the leaf-stalks of Attalea funifera, used for brooms, street sweeping-machine brushes, &c.; Monk′ey-hamm′er, a drop-press with a ram, which is raised and let drop freely; Monk′eyism, the qualities of the monkey; Monk′ey-jack′et, a close-fitting jacket, generally made of some stout, coarse material; Monk′ey-pot, the seed-vessel of several species of Lecythis, having a round lid; Monk′ey-pump, a straw let through a gimlet-hole into a cask for the purpose of sucking the liquor; Monk′ey-puzz′le, the Chili pine, Araucaria imbricata; Monk′ey-rail, a light rail above the quarter-rail; Monk′ey-shine (U.S.), a piece of tomfoolery; Monk′ey-tail, a short lever for training carronades: a piece of knotted rope by which to attach a hook, to save the hand from jamming; Monk′ey-wheel, a tackle-block over which runs a hoisting-rope; Monk′ey-wrench, a screw-key having a movable jaw.—Have, or Get, one's monkey up, to be angry; Suck the monkey, to drink liquor from a cask through an inserted tube: to drink from a coco-nut, filled surreptitiously with rum, &c. [Old It. monicchio, dim. of Old It. monna, nickname for an old woman, an ape, contr. of It. madonna, mistress.]