monkey jacket

American  

noun

1. a short, close-fitting jacket or coat, formerly worn by sailors.

---

monkey jacket British  

noun

1. a short close-fitting jacket, esp a waist-length jacket similar to a mess jacket

---

Etymology

Origin of monkey jacket

First recorded in 1820–30; so called from its resemblance to a jacket worn by an organ-grinder's monkey

Example Sentences

I produced the roll of lint at once from the pocket of my monkey jacket.

From The Ghost Ship A Mystery of the Sea by Austin, Henry

“Yes, sir, and two pair of trousers for thirty shillin’, besides a hoilskin and a serge jumper; and this monkey jacket here, sir, which makes three pun’ seventeen-and-six, sir.”

From Crown and Anchor Under the Pen'ant by Greene, John B.

Still another belt encircled me, and, though I had come up warmly clad in woolen shirts and monkey jacket, I felt these garments being torn away from me.

From The Grain Ship by Robertson, Morgan

Frank, there, will wear his old monkey jacket, the skirts of which he razeed last winter for the very purpose.

From Warwick Woodlands Things as they Were There Twenty Years Ago by Herbert, Henry William

This was a great disappointment to Ned Anstruther, who had come on deck fully equipped for the expedition in his sea boots and monkey jacket.

From Crown and Anchor Under the Pen'ant by Greene, John B.