monkey bearn.
/ˈmʌŋkɪ ˌbɛː/, U.S. /ˈməŋki ˌbɛ(ə)r/, Australian English /ˈmʌŋki ˌbeə/ Australian.
The koala, Phascolarctos cinereus. Cf. monkey n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Phascolarctidae (koala)
sloth1791
koala1808
native bear1827
monkey1836
monkey bear1868
kangaroo-bear-
1868 Gippsland (Victoria) Guardian 1 May Defendant declined to make any statement, except that he had shot monkey bears and put them in a pot.
1880 ‘Erro’ Squattermania 219 He fell into a miserable doze for two or three hours, half conscious of the lugubrious cries of a monkey-bear, in a neighbouring tree.
1891 ‘A. Cambridge’ Three Miss Kings ii. 9 A little monkey-bear came cautiously down from the only gum tree that grew on the premises.
1928 M. E. Fullerton Austral. Bush 114 I have seen the monkey bear under every sort of provocation..but I have never seen him strike a blow for life.
1980 P. Pepper You are what you make Yourself 23 They made the toe-holds to go up after possums and monkey bears (koala).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1868