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make a monkey out of

make a mon·key out of
M m

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [meyk ey muhng-kee out uhv, ov]
    • /meɪk eɪ ˈmʌŋ ki aʊt ʌv, ɒv/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [meyk ey muhng-kee out uhv, ov]
    • /meɪk eɪ ˈmʌŋ ki aʊt ʌv, ɒv/

Definitions of make a monkey out of words

  • noun plural make a monkey out of any mammal of the order Primates, including the guenons, macaques, langurs, and capuchins, but excluding humans, the anthropoid apes, and, usually, the tarsier and prosimians. Compare New World monkey, Old World monkey. 1
  • noun plural make a monkey out of the fur of certain species of such long-haired animals. 1
  • noun plural make a monkey out of a person likened to such an animal, as a mischievous, agile child or a mimic. 1
  • noun plural make a monkey out of a dance, deriving from the twist, in which the partners move their hands as if climbing a pole and jerk their heads back and forth. 1
  • noun plural make a monkey out of Slang. an addiction to narcotics. 1
  • noun plural make a monkey out of any of various mechanical devices, as the ram of a pile driver. 1
See all 14 definitions of make a monkey out of

Information block about the term

Origin of make a monkey out of

First appearance:

before 1520
One of the 28% oldest English words
1520-30; apparently < Low German; compare Middle Low German Moneke (name of son of Martin the Ape in the story of Reynard), equivalent to mone- (akin to obsolete French monne she-ape, Spanish, Portuguese mono ape) + -ke diminutive suffix

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Make a monkey out of

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Make a monkey out of

make a monkey out of popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 95% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

make a monkey out of usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

See also

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