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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

make a monkey out of en · VERB

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To cause a person, group, or action to appear foolish or inferior; to subject someone or something to ridicule.
    • Across France last week, doctors were trying to make a monkey of the government-controlled health-insurance system. . . . Doctors in many départements went on informal strike. 1960 May 30, “Vive la R”, in Time:
    • It is very difficult to make a monkey out of policy makers who can read and write and can argue a case logically. 2008 April 28, Zafar Altaf, “Changing the resource base in farming”, in Pakistan Dawn, retrieved 04 Oct 2008:
    • The rough old sealer swore some terrible oaths, protesting "that he would not make a monkey of himself, by appearing in this garb." 1835, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 10, in The Monikins:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
made a monkey out of Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
made a monkey out of Tense=Past lexicographic
makes a monkey out of Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
making a monkey out of Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
make a monkey of alternative lexicographic