monkey puzzle

noun
/ˈmʌŋkiˌpʌz(ə)l/UK/ˈmʊŋkiˌpʊz(ə)l/

Etymology

From monkey + puzzle, apparently because the branches are so crowded and twisted that even a monkey would find it difficult to climb.

Definitions

  1. A large coniferous tree, Araucaria araucana, native to Chile.

    • They could see the small stone house where she used to live, with a monkey puzzle in front of it like a moustache.
    • Harry had always wanted a cedar tree on the lawn, as there had been in his old home, but had done the best he could by planting a monkey-puzzle, which was said to be quicker growing.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for monkey puzzle. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA