Word Study
jungle
CIDE DICTIONARY
jungle, n. [Hind. jangal desert, forest, jungle; Skr. ja desert.].
- A dense growth of brushwood, grasses, reeds, vines, etc.; an almost impenetrable thicket of trees, canes, and reedy vegetation, as in India, Africa, Australia, and Brazil."The jungles of India are of bamboos, canes, and other palms, very difficult to penetrate." [1913 Webster]
- A place of danger or ruthless competition for survival. [PJC]
- Anything which causes confusion or difficulty due to intricacy; as, a jungle of environmental regulations. [PJC]"The latter, which resembles the domestic gamecock, is supposed to be one of the original species from which the domestic fowl was derived." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
jungle, n.
1 a land overgrown with underwood or tangled vegetation, esp. in the tropics. b an area of such land.
2 a wild tangled mass.
3 a place of bewildering complexity or confusion, or of a struggle for survival (blackboard jungle).
1 a land overgrown with underwood or tangled vegetation, esp. in the tropics. b an area of such land.
2 a wild tangled mass.
3 a place of bewildering complexity or confusion, or of a struggle for survival (blackboard jungle).
Idiom
jungle fever a severe form of malaria. law of the jungle a state of ruthless competition.
Derivative
jungled adj. jungly adj.
Etymology
Hindi jangal f. Skr. jangala desert, forest
THESAURUS
jungle
Chinese puzzle, Gordian knot, Rube Goldberg contraption, afforestation, arboretum, boondocks, bush, bushveld, can of worms, chase, climax forest, cloud forest, complex, dendrology, forest, forest land, forest preserve, forestry, fringing forest, gallery forest, greenwood, hanger, hash, hugger-mugger, index forest, jumble, jungles, knot, labyrinth, litter, mash, maze, meander, mesh, mess, mishmash, morass, muddle, national forest, palmetto barrens, park, park forest, perplex, pine barrens, primeval forest, protection forest, rain forest, ravel, reforestation, rummage, scramble, scrub, scrubland, selection forest, shrubland, silviculture, skein, snafu, snake pit, snarl, sprout forest, stand of timber, state forest, tangle, tangled skein, timber, timberland, tree veld, virgin forest, web, webwork, wheels within wheels, wilderness, wildwood, wood, woodland, woodsROGET THESAURUS
jungle
Complexity
N complexity, complexness, complexus, complication, implication, intricacy, intrication, perplexity, network, labyrinth, wilderness, jungle, involution, raveling, entanglement, coil, sleave, tangled skein, knot, Gordian knot, wheels within wheels, kink, gnarl, knarl, webwork, difficulty, gnarled, knarled, complex, complexed, intricate, complicated, perplexed, involved, raveled, entangled, knotted, tangled, inextricable, irreducible.Vegetable
N vegetable, vegetable kingdom, flora, verdure, plant, tree, shrub, bush, creeper, herb, herbage, grass, annual, perennial, biennial, triennial, exotic, timber, forest, wood, woodlands, timberland, hurst, frith, holt, weald, park, chase, greenwood, brake, grove, copse, coppice, bocage, tope, clump of trees, thicket, spinet, spinney, underwood, brushwood, scrub, boscage, bosk, ceja, chaparal, motte, arboretum, bush, jungle, prairie, heath, heather, fern, bracken, furze, gorse, whin, grass, turf, pasture, pasturage, turbary, sedge, rush, weed, fungus, mushroom, toadstool, lichen, moss, conferva, mold, growth, alfalfa, alfilaria, banyan, blow, blowth, floret, petiole, pin grass, timothy, yam, yew, zinnia, foliage, branch, bough, ramage, stem, tigella, spray, leaf, flower, blossom, bine, flowering plant, timber tree, fruit tree, pulse, legume, vegetable, vegetal, vegetive, vegitous, herbaceous, herbal, botanic, sylvan, silvan, arborary, arboreous, arborescent, arborical, woody, grassy, verdant, verdurous, floral, mossy, lignous, ligneous, wooden, leguminous, vosky, cespitose, turf-like, turfy, endogenous, exogenous, green-robed senators of mighty woods, this is the forest primeval.For further exploring for "jungle" in Webster Dictionary Online
