monk

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: By shortening.

1. A monkey.

   “‘We wuz talkin’ and the monk got loose, and she sent me off to catch him.’”

   “It seems that the big monk up on the roof is nobody but Bongo, who is a gorilla belonging to the circus, and one of the very few gorillas of any account in this country, or anywhere else, as far as this goes, because good gorillas are very scarce, indeed.”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English monk, from Old English munuc, from Proto-West Germanic *munik, from Late Latin monicus, variant of monachus, from Ancient Greek μοναχός (monakhós, “single, solitary”), from μόνος (mónos, “alone”).

1. To be a monk.

   “"Ah!" she cried, "thou art the prettiest little monk that ever monked it in this blessed, amorous town of Constance!"”

   “Good people, if you're ever short of a job, don't take up monking for a living.”

2. To act like a monk; especially to be contemplative.

   “Many a scholar, making wings of candlewicks to flap away old darkness, monked his life to fasting long while feasting upon new light.”

   “...drinking: monking on a mountain: plodding in self-inflicted darkness so that the entrance into light would be heightened and supercharged: sacrifice and gain: the meek shall inherit the earth.”

3. To monkey or meddle; to behave in a manner that is not systematic.

   “The Avatar spoke gently as she responded to his jibe. "Now fucking get aboard and stop monking on like a schoolboy, you silly earplug.”

   “"You just go into the swamp and keep monking around, and maybe in a week er so, somebody'll open up and begin shooting at you, and if you live long enough to git curious about it, that'll be Tom Keefer."”

4. To be intoxicated or confused.

   “I looked up from the thick cotton mat, unsure where my legs were. “She looks monked up.” “maybe her brain is damaged, huh, miss Bryant?””

   “She looked down at herself and said, “Oh, I got that from monking.” “From what?” “Monking. You ain't never done meth, girl?” she said.”

5. To attach so that it sticks out.

   “Molten roofing north, lead dripping down south, stand like those immobilized columns of arctic water west, stalagmites, monked and housed or stamped and dudleyed east, in school texts.”

   “All these controls and screens are monked on to a massive network of computers that coordinates the sights.”