menagerie
Americannoun
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a collection of wild or unusual animals, especially for exhibition.
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a place where they are kept or exhibited.
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an unusual and varied group of people.
noun
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a collection of wild animals kept for exhibition
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the place where such animals are housed
Etymology
Origin of menagerie
1705–15; < French: literally, housekeeping. See ménage, -ery
Explanation
A menagerie (pronounced muh-NA-juh-ree, with NA as in "national") is a collection of live animals that people visit, study, or keep as pets. If you really want a backyard menagerie of farm animals after visiting the petting zoo, take a long sniff and remember what comes with them. Pet lovers can have a menagerie of cats, dogs, and birds or exotic animals such as snakes, ferrets, and piranhas. Zoos have animal collections like the menagerie of sea creatures in the aquarium and the swinging apes in the jungle menagerie. And a science or medical center may have a menagerie of rats for studying behavior. If you want a menagerie, an ant farm is a good one: lots of animals in a container, always working, and never stinking up the place.
Vocabulary lists containing menagerie
Life of Pi
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "M"
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"Wild Animals Aren't Pets" and "Let People Own Exotic Animals"
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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.
The office belonged to head coach Sean McVay, and now it features walls painted pink and light blue and a crib, a changing table and a menagerie of stuffed animals.
From Los Angeles Times • May 10, 2026
His team scrounged up three, including a rental from actor Giovanni Ribisi, who has developed a reputation as a cinematographer and camera whisperer with a menagerie of restored relics.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 12, 2025
Callender’s shop employs more than 80 people and, in the span of just a few years, has added a half-dozen welding robots alongside a menagerie of other automation systems.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
Paignton Zoo, which opened in 1923, was developed from the private menagerie of eccentric millionaire Herbert Whitley, says the zoo on its website.
From BBC • Sep. 30, 2025
“Is there no menagerie or library that we could see?”
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
