monkey jacket

Noun

monkey jacket (plural monkey jackets)

1. (dated) A type of close-fitting jacket worn by sailors.
   • You bully boys of Liverpool, I'll have you to beware,
     When you sail on them packet ships, no dungaree jumpers wear;
     But have a big monkey jacket all ready to your hand,
     For there blows some cold nor'westers on the Banks of Newfoundland.1820, Francis Forbes, The Banks of Newfoundland
   • We were fain to button up our monkey jackets, and hold to our lips cups of scalding tea with our half frozen fingers.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 3, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
2. A semiformal lightweight jacket, usually made of nylon, with striped cuffs and neck, similar to an MA-1 flight jacket.

   Synonyms:

   mess jacket

3. (US, slang) A hospital gown.