Word.ws English Dictionary

monkey traps

monkey traps is the plural of monkey trap.

Meaning of monkey trap

Noun

monkey trap (plural monkey traps)

  1. (literally) A cage containing a banana with a hole large enough for a monkey's hand to fit in, but not large enough for a monkey's fist (clutching a banana) to come out; anecdotally used to catch monkeys that lack the intellect to let go of the banana and run away.
  2. (figuratively) A clever trap of any sort, that owes its success to the ineptitude or gullibility of the victim.
    Synonyms:
    monkey jar

Questions about monkey traps

What is monkey traps the plural of?
Monkey traps is the plural of monkey trap.

Words near monkey traps in the dictionary

  1. monkey tamarinds
  2. monkey thorn
  3. monkey trail
  4. monkey trails
  5. monkey trap
  6. monkey traps
  7. monkey trial
  8. monkey up
  9. monkey walk
  10. monkey walks
  11. Monkey Ward's

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: monkey traps (page history and authors); monkey trap (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “monkey traps.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/monkey_traps. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.