jungle

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A thick tropical forest full of wild plants and animals.

   The explorers cut a path through the dense jungle.

2. 2
   noun

   A place or situation with fierce, ruthless competition.

   In business, it's a jungle out there.

3. 3
   noun

   A confusing, tangled mess of things.

   His desk was a jungle of papers and old coffee cups.

Borrowed from Hindustani جَن٘گَل (jaṅgal) / जंगल (jaṅgal), from Sanskrit जङ्गल (jaṅgala, “arid, sterile, desert”). First appears c. 1776 in a translation by Nathaniel Halhed.

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