Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The domesticated ass (Equus asinus).
- n. Slang An obstinate person.
- n. Slang A stupid person.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An ass: a familiar term.
- n. A stupid or obstinate and wrong-headed fellow.
- n. In mech., a subsidiary apparatus for carrying a weight or load, or coming into action to steady and support a primary element.
- n. A driving-frame or truck acting as a tractor on rails, to pull or haul a weight or load.
Wiktionary
- n. A domestic animal, Equus africanus asinus, similar to a horse.
- n. A stubborn person.
- n. A fool.
- n. nautical A small auxiliary engine, also called donkey engine.
- n. poker slang A bad poker player.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An ass; or (less frequently) a mule.
- n. A stupid or obstinate fellow; an ass.
WordNet 3.0
- n. domestic beast of burden descended from the African wild ass; patient but stubborn
- n. the symbol of the Democratic Party; introduced in cartoons by Thomas Nast in 1874
Etymologies
- Perhaps from the name Duncan or of imitative origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“You can try it out for yourself: search for the term donkey and give it back as a JavaScript call”
“You're observation that opposing pitchers may make him look like a donkey is a most under-educated comment.”
“Andale's can be fun, make sure the donkey is there ... a bar is always more fun when there's a donkey involved ... * grin* (But yes, the asses are always there ...)”
“It's a pretty little village and you're bound to see folk riding around in donkey-pulled carts, although these are rapidly disappearing, giving way to motos.”
“Blue dog dems are nothing more than republicans in donkey's clothing because they know the republican party is no more ...”
“According to my english to duck dictionary he said, "The donkey is on the toilet.”
“Anyway, as a result, having not heard the song in donkey's years, I thought I'd track down the lyrics which I only had the vaguest memory of, and see if the song itself was floating about on YouTube.”
“EXTRALIFE – By Scott Johnson - Diary #118: “That donkey is wrong””
EXTRALIFE – By Scott Johnson - Diary #118: “That donkey is wrong”
“I haven't posted here in donkey's years, although I have a couple of posts long overdue.”
“Mary, seated on a donkey, is led through the streets.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘donkey’.
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Of Imitative Origin
Words formed in imitation of the sound of the things they signify.
bawl, biff, blizzard, blob, blooper, bob, boff, bomb, bonkers, boo, borborygmus, brouhaha and 148 more...
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Punch Lines
I'm terrible with jokes - maybe a list of punch lines will help.
to get to the oth..., consider a spheri..., professional cour..., because 31 Oct = ..., The Aristocrats, a newspaper, one to fill the b..., because 7 8 9, to go to a poultr..., it's a hickory da..., he said it was si..., a cereal killer and 151 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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horses
everything horses
horse, bay, bloodhorse, bloodstock, bolter, broncho, bronco, brumby, bucker, buckjumper, cob, cocktail and 200 more...
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EN - pronunciation fun
All words of the poem
The Chaos
by Gerard Nolst Trenité
Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse <...abyss, ache, actual, advice, aerie, age, ague, aisles, alas, alien, alive, allowed and 406 more...
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RELI - words with Biblical connotations
Words in the Bible evoking biblical stories or with special spiritual meaning. Proper names have been reduced to the minimum.
ark, judgement, holy, saint, baptism, spirit, love, eternal, altar, balsam, covenant, flood and 1115 more...
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AGRI - horse breeding
place bet, Przewalski's horse, piaffe, genus Claviceps, stadium jumping, draft animal, snaffle bit, noseband, equestrian sport, endurance riding, curb bit, dressage and 678 more...
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You animal!
Names of animals that are also used to describe kinds of people. Nouns only, preferably single word.
For a related list, see sionnach's beastly verbs.rabbit, shark, hog, pussycat, bear, bull, skunk, hawk, wildcat, buck, slug, heifer and 112 more...
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tHe Best Animals Ever
giraffe, elepant, cattle, water buffalo, langur monkey, baboon, lion, antelope, cheetah, tapeworm, kangaroo, bullfrog and 102 more...
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Animals
pig, camel, ant, ape, donkey, badger, bat, beaver, bee, cat, dog, cow and 82 more...
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Onk-tastic
Words containing the sound /ŏngk/.
Algonquin, Cronkite, Tonka, Tonkin, Wonka, Yonkers, bonk, bonkers, bronco, broncobuster, conk, conker and 53 more...
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November Words-10031
Godspeed, odious, affinity, cicatrix, air lift, domino, dominance, eggplant, donkey, tug boat, trifle, sculpture and 8 more...
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Words that should be heard in songs m...
Inspired by PossibleUnderscore's list of words overused in modern pop music.
giant squid, bamboo, colonic, herbivore, raptor, dodecahedron, largesse, sinuses, dim sum, carburetor, transubstantiation, wife and 54 more...
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animals
horse, bear, fish, bull, pig, donkey, elephant, cow, tortoise, cat, sheep, dog and 14 more...
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animals (2 syllable)
A list of common animal names. Keep the list to 2 syllable words.No scientific names. No proper names like 'Fluffy' the elephant.Insects and other creatures (even ficticious like 'dragon') are we...
baboon, rabbit, raptor, dragon, camel, hornet, llama, cobra, cheetah, penguin, puppy, dolphin and 87 more...
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Compound words by appearance, not def...
Requirements:
• The word should be a compound.
• Once divided, the individual definitions should not describe the compound itself.
• For sanity's sake, any word that also ha...pinion, electrode, faggot, accordion, display, lotion, lithe, mobile, wonton, spittoon, home, donkey and 10 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for donkey.
supbob91 found in Merriam Webster's Dictionary pg 24 Nov 15, 2010
uselessness A particularly juvenile Mother Goose poem-thing:
"I am a gold lock."
"I am a gold key."
"I am a silver lock."
"I am a silver key."
"I am a brass lock."
"I am a brass key."
"I am a lead lock."
"I am a lead key."
"I am a don lock."
"I am a don key!"
Reminds me of the old (equally lame) joke...
"How do you spell spot?"
"S-P-O-T."
"How do you spell spot?"
"S-P-O-T."
"How do you spell spot?"
"S-P-O-T."
"What do you do at a green light?"
"Stop!"
"You stop? At a green light?" (cue Nelson: "Ha ha!") Nov 14, 2007
yarb Yes ceebee, this word absolutely does sound like the braying of a donkey, yes! I've always thought so. In my mind I change the 'n' to an 'm', so I get "dommmmmm-keeeeey!" Nov 12, 2007
seanahan It certainly isn't. Nov 12, 2007
chained_bear I found, when still a child, that if you say this word juuust so, it can sound like the animal's bray... which is why I'm putting it on my list now... :)
Edit: is the WordNet definition really the most common usage? Nov 11, 2007
wordup This for me is probably the funniest word to hear out loud in the entirety of the English language. Anything can be made laughable with the simple addition of the word donkey attached to it. ;) Nov 11, 2007