jungle
- a wild land overgrown with dense vegetation, often nearly impenetrable, especially tropical vegetation or a tropical rain forest.
- a tract of such land.
- a wilderness of dense overgrowth; a piece of swampy, thickset forestland.
- any confused mass or agglomeration of objects; jumble: a jungle of wrecked automobiles.
- something that baffles or perplexes; maze: a jungle of legal double-talk.
- a scene of violence and struggle for survival: The neglected prison was a jungle for its inmates.
- a place or situation of ruthless competition: the advertising jungle.
- Slang. a hobo camp.
Origin of jungle
Jungle, The
- a novel (1906) by Upton Sinclair.
Examples from the Web for jungle
Contemporary Examples
Over the past week, Sony Pictures Entertainment has received more body blows than Muhammad Ali during the Rumble in the Jungle.
Now, visitors are scarce and the jungle is taking over, leaving some locals nostalgic.
Six Must-Read Stories About the Sony Hacks, Congo’s Forgotten Colonial Getaway and Another Woman’s Story of U-VAThe Daily Beast
December 20, 2014
A Belgian church has a chalkboard sitting at the pulpit with the jungle peeking through the windows behind it.
Bibi was pregnant, and Louise delivered her baby, a boy named Christian, the same day in the jungle.
Certainly I can imagine ways of giving this jungle hero some up-to-date progressive attitudes.
Historical Examples
The day was sultry, and the heat, even in the dense shade of the jungle, oppressive.
The Monster MenEdgar Rice Burroughs
"Number One has escaped into the jungle, Professor," he said.
The Monster MenEdgar Rice Burroughs
And you have watched over me alone in the jungle for two days?
The Monster MenEdgar Rice Burroughs
"I'd like to know how I'm going to get back through this jungle after dark," Charlie said.
Pee-wee HarrisPercy Keese Fitzhugh
There was a thicket of holly and underwood, as dense as a jungle, close about the door.
The Room in the Dragon VolantJ. Sheridan LeFanu
jungle
- an equatorial forest area with luxuriant vegetation, often almost impenetrable
- any dense or tangled thicket or growth
- a place of intense competition or ruthless struggle for survivalthe concrete jungle
- a type of fast electronic dance music, originating in the early 1990s, which combines elements of techno and ragga
- US slang (esp in the Depression) a gathering place for the unemployed, etc
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for jungle
n.
1776, from Hindi jangal "desert, forest, wasteland, uncultivated ground," from Sanskrit jangala-s "arid, sparsely grown with trees," of unknown origin. Specific sense of "land overgrown by vegetation in a wild, tangled mass" is first recorded 1849; meaning "place notoriously lawless and violent" is first recorded 1906, from Upton Sinclair's novel (cf. asphalt jungle, 1949, William R. Burnett's novel title, made into a film 1950 by John Huston; blackboard jungle, 1954, Evan Hunter's novel title, movie in 1955). Jungle gym was a trademark name, 1923, by Junglegym Inc., Chicago, U.S. Jungle bunny, derogatory for "black person," attested from 1966.
Idioms and Phrases with jungle
jungle
see law of the jungle.