to monkey
- verb
- /ˈmʌŋki/
- Informal
- Be careful not to monkey with the settings on the printer; it could cause more problems.
But hey, we didn't monkey up our back fourth quarter one score game.
- But hey, we didn't monkey up our back fourth quarter one score game.
Examples
-
Don't monkey with the evidence; it needs to be preserved for the investigation.
-
We'll monkey with the bike later.
-
So people will sing along with me, hopefully they can monkey around too.
-
Oh, what a fool I was to monkey about with them.
-
Here, don't monkey around with that.
-
That'll teach you to monkey with me.
-
You do not start monkeying around with that, in my view.
Academic text (1998) -
I heard that new mayor is monkeying with the subway now.
-
If you have the perfect recipe for vichyssoise, you don't monkey with it.
Fiction book (2000) -
If you know what's good for you… …you won't monkey around with Fred C. Dobbs.
Synonyms
To interfere with something without permission in a harmful or dishonest way
To spend time doing playful or unplanned activities
To try small changes to fix or improve something
To spend time doing small, not important jobs in a relaxed way
To cheat by changing records or numbers to hide facts
Waste time by acting silly instead of working
To spend time doing not important things in a relaxed way
To spend time doing things that are not important
To spend time slowly doing small simple jobs without hurry
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
Playful mischief that can include small dishonest acts to trick or amuse people
- Offensive
Make someone look silly in front of other people by tricking or embarrassing them
- Informal
A person who is between two sides and cannot change what happens
Cause problems on purpose that stop a plan or process from working smoothly
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
An animal that lives in trees in the Americas with long thin arms and a tail that grasps branches
A large monkey from Central and South American forests that makes very loud calls
- South African
A monkey that lives in trees in Africa with long silky fur and small or no thumbs
A monkey from Central and South America with a flat nose and often a tail that can hold things
- Offensive
A person who only writes routine computer code and has no say in decisions
- US
A large tropical tree with wide branches that give shade and seed pods eaten by animals
A West African monkey that lives in open grasslands with a greenish-grey back and a yellow tail
- Offensive
A person who answers many phone calls to help customers in a call center
A small active monkey with a long tail and dark face that lives in Central and South American forests
A rude, insulting name for people from France that calls them cowardly
- South African
A monkey that lives on the African savanna with greenish-grey fur and a yellow tail
- US
A sweet pull-apart pastry of baked dough pieces coated in butter, sugar and cinnamon
A small dog like a terrier from Europe with dark rough hair and a short snout with a small beard
- Specialized
A light narrow ladder on a ship that sailors climb to reach the monkey bridge
- South African
A large African tree with a very thick trunk that has fruit with a soft inside that people eat
- Specialized
A rare severe disease from green monkeys caused by a virus that can infect and kill people
- South African
A small slender African monkey with long back legs, a long tail, and hair around its face
A small monkey with reddish fur and a long tail that lives in West Africa and moves quickly
- Informal
A silly phrase people use to say something is confusing or absurd
- Indian
A monkey from Africa or Asia with a tail that cannot hold things and nostrils close together on the nose
- South African
A small African monkey with a black face and hands that lives in woods and grassland
- Slur
A rude name for an Asian person who acts like a Western person or who acts strangely
How Thoroughly
Surface Forms
Etymology
To monkey with something comes from the idea of a monkey 'messing' with objects, and so it now means to tamper or fiddle with something, often in a careless or secret way.