Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A collection of live wild animals on exhibition.
- n. An enclosure in which wild animals are kept.
- n. A diverse or miscellaneous group.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A yard or inclosure in which wild animals are kept.
- n. A collection of wild animals; specifically, a collection of wild animals kept for exhibition.
Wiktionary
- n. A collection of live wild animals on exhibition; the enclosure where they are kept.
- n. A diverse or miscellaneous group.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A place where animals are kept and trained.
- n. A collection of wild or exotic animals, kept for exhibition.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a collection of live animals for study or display
- n. the facility where wild animals are housed for exhibition
Etymologies
- From French ménagerie, derived from ménager ("to keep house"), household. Housekeeping used to include taking care of domestic animals. (Wiktionary)
- French ménagerie, from Old French mesnage, ménage; see ménage. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“If the fishing isn't bizarre enough, there's some random samurai action going on and this whole menagerie is played out to Metallica's "Unforgiven," which, if you watch it a few times will become as hysterical to you as it has to me.”
“The only remaining Baroque-style menagerie is the zoo in Vienna, which has modernized enough to make the animals comfortable without losing its essentially radial layout.”
“The national menagerie is collected by the first physiologists of the time; and it is defective in no description of savage nature.”
“I knew he kept ducks at the bottom of the garden -- an activity Siegfried regarded with a jaundiced eye as being part of a "menagerie" -- but all this, coming from a man who had no interest in food and, in fact, seemed to eat only on rare occasions, was difficult to take in.”
“WAP-enabled devices (and the acronym menagerie that goes along with them) combine the rock-solid reliability of the Internet with the rock-solid reliability of a cell phone.”
“All we needed to complete our menagerie was a magic-poor vampire.”
“She was a collector of stray animals; in her menagerie were a cat with a lobotomy and a large dog with stunted legs.”
“A few feet away in this wall was an inset rubber-sealed glass door: behind this, I knew, lay what the scientists and technicians called the menagerie — one of four in Mordon.”
“A few feet away in this wall was an inset rubber-sealed glass door: behind this, I knew, lay what the scientists and technicians called the menagerie -- one of four in Mordon.”
“The last part of our menagerie is the cage of prize butterflies," said”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘menagerie’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 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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To Define Collections
pasticcio, olio, compendium, assemblage, menagerie, miscellanea, farrago, hotchpot, omnium-gatherum, cento, gallimaufry, anthology and 2 more...
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14
Allege, conclusive, counterpart, dismal, enthrall, exotic, incredulous, legendary, lurk, menagerie, naive, pander and 3 more...
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14
allege, conclusive, counterpart, dismal, enthrall, exotic, incredulous, legendary, lurk, menagerie, naive, pander and 3 more...
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October Words-11849
During the month of October, post at least 10 new words to this list. Make sure you cite where you read the word (book/author/pg) and quote the context/sentence where you found it. If someone has a...
desalination, Girn, incongruous, irreparably, pneumatic, metastatic, languorous, menagerie, mottled, valise, moot, deferential and 28 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
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Collections
Have I made this list before? Has someone else collected these words together? I can't remember, so I'm just going to start storing some things here.
collection, omnium-gatherum, sylloge, antiphonary, anthology, bestiary, cartulary, dossier, sampler, assortment, variety, hodgepodge and 65 more...
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Favorite Words
pablum, maundy, histrionic, adamant, ascribe, verbiage, insouciant, erudite, gregarious, superfluous, banal, obdurate and 280 more...
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catinthehat345's List
compere, reticle, colophon, miasma, eldritch, raconteur, plectrum, poltroon, vestibular, pastiche, cravat, acumen and 179 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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Vocab
Words that I come across, and go blank, or want to clarify.
nefarious, edifice, malevolent, ostensible, folderol, bauble, livid, amnesty, calculus, saddlery, maisonette, cuisse and 423 more...
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There's a word for that?
temerity, tacit, froward, faineant, caterwaul, menagerie, ennui, sine qua non, lissom, multifarious, laconic, katzenjammer and 240 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for menagerie.
JTroyer "Jacob-it's the menagerie." Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Oct 17, 2010
jwjarvis Scientists have been altering DNA piecemeal for a generation, producing a menagerie of genetically engineered plants and animals. May 24, 2010