donkey
the domestic ass, Equus asinus.
(since 1874) a representation of this animal as the emblem of the U.S. Democratic Party.
a stupid, silly, or obstinate person.
a woodworking apparatus consisting of a clamping frame and saw, used for cutting marquetry veneers.
Machinery. auxiliary: donkey engine; donkey pump; donkey boiler.
Origin of donkey
1Words Nearby donkey
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use donkey in a sentence
Nearby a family of Turkish Kurds busied themselves in their fields piling vegetables onto a donkey-drawn cart.
Impotent U.S. Airstrikes, Passive Turks and an ISIS Triumph | Jamie Dettmer | October 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the second instance, it is a man and his wife pleading from atop a donkey.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq | Nathan Bradley Bethea | August 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe patrolled on foot, and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) filled the donkey paths that crisscrossed the wadis and hills.
How a Thumb-Sized Gauge Is Revolutionizing Traumatic Brain Injuries | Brian Castner | March 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFor the donkeys who have long felt that donkey Ball should not be real, 2014 earns an A-.
He was painting the Sistine Chapel, and he was angry at one of the bishops or cardinals, so he painted him in with donkey ears.
Interview: T Bone Burnett, the Coen Brothers’ Music Guru | Andrew Romano | December 13, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
His donkey stumbled—it was natural enough, seeing that the reins hung loose and his feet had somehow left the stirrups.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodHis donkey had gone lame, he abandoned it to the boys behind, he climbed in to drive with Lettice.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodIbrahim stopped his song to sigh, and struck his donkey lightly under the right ear, causing it to turn sharply to the left.
Bella Donna | Robert HichensAnd now Ibrahim struck his donkey again, and they went on rapidly towards the Libyan mountains.
Bella Donna | Robert HichensCould all these people read her mind and follow the track of her distastes and desires, even the dragomans and the donkey-boys?
Bella Donna | Robert Hichens
British Dictionary definitions for donkey
/ (ˈdɒŋkɪ) /
Also called: ass a long-eared domesticated member of the horse family (Equidae), descended from the African wild ass (Equus asinus)
a stupid or stubborn person
British slang, derogatory a footballer known for his or her lack of skill: the players are a bunch of overpriced and overrated donkeys
talk the hind leg(s) off a donkey to talk endlessly
Origin of donkey
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for donkey
A symbol (see also symbol) of the Democratic party, introduced in a series of political cartoons by Thomas Nast during the congressional elections of 1874. (Compare elephant.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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