monkey puzzle

noun

: a tall araucaria (Araucaria araucana) that is native to Chile and western Argentina but widely grown elsewhere

called also monkey puzzle tree

Examples of monkey puzzle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The backyard blooms with several varieties of hydrangea, along with Russian sage, Rose of Sharon, elderberry bushes, crepe myrtle, weeping pine, and monkey puzzle trees. Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 6 Nov. 2023 As everyone surely now knows by now from having read such an informative article, monkey puzzle trees are native to Chile and are so-named because their spiny branches led an English barrister in the 1800s to proclaim that climbing them would puzzle a monkey. Ted Glanzer, Hartford Courant, 7 Nov. 2022 The ancient monkey puzzle tree has distinctive spiny leaves and intricate scaly branches. Katie Hunt, CNN, 17 Aug. 2022 Plants from around the world, like the monkey puzzle tree, set among stone walls, meadows, and fields, keep a primary focus on the floras of Martha’s Vineyard (including Hill’s famous North Tisbury azaleas), the Atlantic coastal plain, and eastern Asia. Alyssa Giacobbe, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Mar. 2021 Dinosaurs would have roamed through ecosystems that were a mixture of ferns, conifers like the curious-looking monkey puzzle tree and others. Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 3 June 2021 After all, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet and, maybe, a monkey puzzle tree by another moniker would still be as painfully pointy, right? Ted Glanzer, Hartford Courant, 7 Nov. 2022 In 2017, Hurricane Irma knocked down the monkey puzzle trees, flora native to parts of Chile and Argentina. Grethel Aguila, Orlando Sentinel, 3 Nov. 2022 The monkey puzzle trees are now protected by law across Patagonia. Katie Hunt, CNN, 17 Aug. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1856, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of monkey puzzle was in 1856

Dictionary Entries Near monkey puzzle

Cite this Entry

“Monkey puzzle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monkey%20puzzle. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.

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