monkey with

phrasal verb

monkeyed with; monkeying with; monkeys with
informal
: to handle or play with (something) in a careless way : to monkey around with (something)
I told you not to monkey with the lawn mower.

Examples of monkey with in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web One study found that treating animals such as guinea pigs and monkeys with these antibodies after they were infected with Marburg virus prevented serious illness and death. Jess Craig, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018 That regulation, in turn, is limited to tugging at the edges of operators’ powers to monkey with traffic running over their networks, in a context in which the operators are dying to consolidate and control markets. Susan Crawford, WIRED, 1 Aug. 2016 Amid Mexico’s heat wave and drought, suffering birds are getting air-conditioning and monkeys with heatstroke are being rescued by non-governmental groups. Mark Stevenson and Maria Verza, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 June 2024 The study suggests, in other words, that human influence has monkeyed with a force that scholars, stargazers and scientists have puzzled over for millennia — something long considered a constant that was out of humanity’s control. Evan Bush, NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024 In almost all cases, these depictions show what appear to be a species of baboon known as Papio hamadryas, large monkeys with a dog-like muzzle. Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 12 Feb. 2024 The company has previously demonstrated the ability of the implant to stimulate movement in pigs and monkeys, even demonstrating a monkey with a brain chip playing a video game. ABC News, 30 Jan. 2024 Allegedly, Musk misled investors about Neuralink’s safety due to the reports that the experiment’s monkeys with implants suffered various health issues, such as brain swelling, seizures and paralysis. Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 30 Jan. 2024 Researchers in China even briefly initiated pregnancies in monkeys with embryo models. Quanta Magazine, 19 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'monkey with.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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Cite this Entry

“Monkey with.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monkey%20with. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.

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