jungle

[ juhng-guhl ]

noun

1. a wild land overgrown with dense vegetation, often nearly impenetrable, especially tropical vegetation or a tropical rainforest.
2. a tract of such land.
3. a wilderness of dense overgrowth; a piece of swampy, thickset forestland.
4. any confused mass or agglomeration of objects; jumble:

   a jungle of wrecked automobiles.

5. something that baffles or perplexes; maze:

   a jungle of legal double-talk.

6. a scene of violence and struggle for survival:

   The neglected prison was a jungle for its inmates.

7. a place or situation of ruthless competition:

   the advertising jungle.

8. Slang.
   1. (in historical use) a hobo camp:

      We found him by the campfire, with many similarly raggedy hobos in what is known as a jungle.

   2. any camp of unhoused individuals:

      Law enforcement clears the jungle and tears down the temporary structures a few times each year, but people return and a new encampment always springs up.

jungle

/ ˈdʒʌŋɡəl /

noun

1. an equatorial forest area with luxuriant vegetation, often almost impenetrable
2. any dense or tangled thicket or growth
3. a place of intense competition or ruthless struggle for survival

   the concrete jungle

4. a type of fast electronic dance music, originating in the early 1990s, which combines elements of techno and ragga
5. slang.
   (esp in the Depression) a gathering place for the unemployed, etc

Derived Forms

• ˈjungly, adjective

Other Words From

• jun·gled adjective
• un·der·jun·gle noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of jungle¹

First recorded in 1770–80; from Hindi jaṅgal, from Sanskrit jaṅgala “uncultivated land, dry land, waterless place”

Word History and Origins

Origin of jungle¹

C18: from Hindi jangal, from Sanskrit jāngala wilderness

Idioms and Phrases

see law of the jungle .

Example Sentences

Beth Doglio in Washington State and Georgette Gomez in California are running against fellow Democrats after the jungle primaries in their states.

From Washington Blade

From the savannas of Kenya to the jungles of Borneo, this app reimagines natural-history storytelling and conservation filmmaking by bringing them into your living room — or whatever room you choose.

From Ozy

I continued to see him when he entered sixth grade, and on days when I picked him up he was typically tearing around the jungle gym with friends, with an unself-consciousness that, together with his slight frame, made him seem younger than 12.

From ProPublica

The journey begins in the Amazon inside the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, a 2,330-square-mile swath of primordial jungle teeming with ten monkey species, tapirs, and pink dolphins.

From Outside Online

The sun’s wispy upper atmosphere, called the corona, is an ever-changing jungle of sizzling plasma.

From Science News

But so-called jungle primaries are notoriously hard to predict or poll.

From The Daily Beast

The legal jungle must be bulldozed, and replaced by radically simpler framework of goals and principles.

From The Daily Beast

It all began, the consensus seems to be, with the red jungle fowl.

From The Daily Beast

Over the past week, Sony Pictures Entertainment has received more body blows than Muhammad Ali during the Rumble in the Jungle.

From The Daily Beast

Now, visitors are scarce and the jungle is taking over, leaving some locals nostalgic.

From The Daily Beast

It took me back to Burma and a certain very uncomfortable night that I once passed in the jungle.

From Project Gutenberg

To elucidate this it is necessary to plunge into the jungle of pure economic theory.

From Project Gutenberg

Bridges had been broken down, and the guns had to be hauled through jungle and woods under a scorching sun.

From Project Gutenberg

The road was a bullock track, a swamp of mud amid the larger swamp of the ploughed land and jungle.

From Project Gutenberg

I was indebted to the kindness of the Messrs. Behu and Meyer for a very interesting excursion into the jungle.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• forest
• wasteland
• wood