monkey puzzle

English

monkey puzzle
branches and cones

Alternative forms

  • monkey-puzzle

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmʌŋkiˌpʌz(ə)l/

Noun

monkey puzzle (plural monkey puzzles)

  1. A large coniferous tree, Araucaria araucana, native to Chile. [from 19th c.]
    • 2003, Alasdair Gray, ‘Miss Kincaid's Autumn’, Canongate 2012 (Every Short Story), p. 747:
      Two days later I took it to the former manse, a solid grey stately Victorian building with a tall monkey puzzle tree on the lawn.

Synonyms

Translations

Distribution of monkey puzzle in Chile

See also

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