mon·key (m?ng?k?)n. pl. mon·keys 1. 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 back1. 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 s?mia, 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.monkeysmacaque – 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.Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.