donkey

[ dong-kee, dawng-, duhng- ]

See synonyms for donkey on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural don·keys.

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.

adjective

Machinery. auxiliary: donkey engine; donkey pump; donkey boiler.

Origin of donkey

First recorded in 1775–85; of uncertain origin; perhaps alteration of Dunkey, diminutive name or pet form of Duncan, man's name; perhaps a derivative of dun “dull, grayish brown”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use donkey in a sentence

Scattered here and there were the corpses of horses and donkeys.
Inside the Gaza Schoolyard Massacre | Jesse Rosenfeld | July 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
We came across men in loose djellabas riding tiny donkeys, and others scything by hand, leaving piles of barley under olive trees.
On Foot in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco | Joanna Eede | January 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
For the donkeys who have long felt that donkey Ball should not be real, 2014 earns an A-.
How Is 2014 Going? An Early Review | Kelly Williams Brown | January 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Are we putting gay people in the same category as people who have sex with donkeys?
Patti Davis and Michael Reagan 'Feud' Over Gay Marriage | Lloyd Grove | April 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
It felt so natural for her to hold babies, baby pigs, baby lambs, baby donkeys.
Carine Roitfeld Exclusive Interview About CR Fashion Book | Isabel Wilkinson | September 6, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST

Cash got up and went to the doorway, looking out over Bud's shoulder at the spiritless donkeys trailing in to water.
Cabin Fever | B. M. Bower
In connection with donkeys, I have this interesting recollection, p. 16that one of the old men of the village told me.
East Anglia | J. Ewing Ritchie
So the gentleman and the lady and the boy took their excursion day after day with the two donkeys.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878 | Various
Our transport to-day consisted of yaks and donkeys, which came along very well.
Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 | Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury
Our new transport consisted of donkeys and some very wild yaks, which rapidly got rid of their loads.
Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 | Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury

British Dictionary definitions for donkey

donkey

/ (ˈdɒŋkɪ) /

noun

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

C18: perhaps from dun dark + -key, as in monkey

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

Cultural definitions for donkey

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.)

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