monkey on one's back
Idioms-
Drug addiction, as in He'd had a monkey on his back for at least two years . [ Slang ; first half of 1900s]
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A vexing problem or burden, as in This project has proved to be a monkey on my back—there seems to be no end to it . Both usages allude to being unable to shake off the animal from one's back.
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.
