# monk

Pronunciation: say "MUNGK" /mʌŋk/

## Noun

1. A man who belongs to a monastic order and has dedicated his whole life to his faith.
   - Simple: A man who joins a religious group and gives his life to prayer and worship.
   - _Each monk in the abbey took a vow of poverty._
   - _The aging monk had served the monastery for fifty years._
2. A hermit who lived alone in religious devotion, rather than with others in a community like a cenobite.
   - Simple: A holy man who lived alone, instead of with others in a group.
   - _The desert monk withdrew from all human company to pray in solitude._
   - _Unlike his brothers in the abbey, the monk chose a hermit's life apart._
3. A bottom-dwelling marine fish with a broad, flattened head, known more fully as the monkfish.
   - Simple: A large sea fish with a wide, flat head, also called the monkfish.
   - _The trawler's nets came up full of monk, their wide heads flopping on the deck._
   - _She filleted the monk and served it with butter and herbs._
4. A person who lives a solitary, withdrawn life; a loner. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person who keeps to himself and stays away from other people.
   - _Colleagues teased him as the office monk because he ate lunch alone every day._
   - _After her divorce she became something of a monk, shutting out old friends._
5. An unmarried man who lives without any sexual relationships. *(slang)*
   - Simple: An unmarried man who has no romantic or sexual partners.
   - _By thirty he was still a confirmed monk, untouched by romance._
   - _His roommates ribbed him for being a monk who hadn't dated in years._
6. A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus), the name also applied to certain capuchins such as Cebus xanthosternos.
   - Simple: A South American monkey, also called the monk saki.
   - _In the canopy, a monk leapt between branches, gripping with both hands._
   - _Researchers tracked a troop of monks through the rainforest for weeks._
7. A folk name for the bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula), a stocky European finch with a black cap.
   - Simple: A small European songbird, the bullfinch, with a short black cap.
   - _The gardener watched a monk pecking at the cherry blossoms._
   - _A pair of monks stripped the buds from the plum tree._
10. A monkey, in informal or playful speech. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A monkey, the small climbing animal with a long tail.
   - _The kids laughed at the monk doing tricks at the zoo._
   - _A cheeky monk snatched the banana right out of her hand._
11. A judge, the person who hears and decides cases in a court of law. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person who decides cases in a court of law.
   - _The monk banged his gavel and called the room to order._
   - _We waited for the monk to deliver his verdict._
14. A type of fuse formerly used to fire mines or buried explosive charges.
   - Simple: A fuse used long ago to set off mines or buried explosives.
   - _The engineer set the monk and signaled the men back._
   - _A damp monk failed to fire the charge beneath the wall._

## Verb

8. To live as a monk; to follow the monastic religious life.
   - Simple: To live as a monk in a religious order.
   - _He monked for forty years before his death._
   - _Some young men chose to monk rather than take up a trade._
9. To behave in the manner of a monk, especially by being given to quiet reflection.
   - Simple: To act like a monk, especially by being quiet and thoughtful.
   - _On weekends he monks alone, reading and reflecting in silence._
   - _She prefers to monk quietly rather than join the noisy crowd._
12. To meddle or fiddle with something, acting in a disorganized, unsystematic way.
   - Simple: To play around or meddle with something in a careless way.
   - _Don't monk with the controls during the test._
   - _He monked around with the budget figures until nothing added up._
13. To be intoxicated, or otherwise dazed and unable to think clearly.
   - Simple: To be drunk or mixed up in the head.
   - _After three drinks he began to monk and could barely stand._
   - _They monked all weekend and remembered nothing on Monday._
16. To fasten something to a surface so that it juts or sticks out.
   - Simple: To fix something onto a surface so that it pokes out.
   - _Monk the sign to the gatepost so passersby notice it._
   - _He monked the lamp onto the bracket above the door._

## Noun

15. An inkblot, especially a dark smudge left on a page during printing. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A spot or blot of ink, especially one left on a printed page.
   - _Each monk on the proof meant the press had over-inked._
   - _She pointed to a monk smudging the title line._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–9, 11–16** — From Middle English "monk", from Old English "munuc", which traces through Proto-West Germanic and Late Latin "monicus" (a variant of "monachus") back to Ancient Greek "monakhós" ("single, solitary"), from "mónos" ("alone").
**Meaning 10** — By shortening.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/monk (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).