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monkey puzzle

American

noun

a South American, coniferous timber tree, Araucaria araucana, having candelabralike branches, stiff sharp leaves, and edible nuts.

monkey puzzle British

noun

Also called: Chile pine. a South American coniferous tree, Araucaria araucana, having branches shaped like a candelabrum and stiff sharp leaves: family Araucariaceae

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of monkey puzzle

First recorded in 1865–70; perhaps from the intertwined arrangement of its limbs

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

An MIT student and a software engineer designed a robot that can solve a Rubik’s cube puzzle in just 38-hundredths of a second.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 9, 2018

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023