ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Menagerie

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /məˈnæd͡ʒəɹɪ/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Menagerie is a noun meaning A collection of live wild animals as an exhibition historically associated with the aristocracy and considered a precursor of modern zoos.

Meaning

A collection of live wild animals as an exhibition historically associated with the aristocracy and considered a precursor of modern zoos.

More Meanings

  1. The enclosure where they are kept.
  2. A diverse or miscellaneous group.
  3. (obsolete, slang) The orchestra of a theatre.

Example Sentences

In Sacramento a crazed woman opened the cages of a circus menagerie for fear the animals might starve to death, and had been mauled by a lioness.
[Brigitte] Bardot, the stunning, desirable beauty who once stood for sexual freedom for women, spent the latter part of her life at her home near Saint Tropez with her husband and a menagerie of pets.

Word Forms

Synonyms for menagerie

Depending on context, synonyms include zoo, assortment, hodgepodge, melange.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include zoo, menagry, zooarium, megazoo, zoopark, insectarium.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.