What does "jungle" mean?

1. (tropical forest) a thick, tropical forest where many wild plants and animals live. 2. (ruthless environment) a place where people are very competitive and do not follow rules or care about others. 3. (tangled mess) a messy or complicated group of things that are hard to separate. 4. (music genre) a type of fast electronic dance music with heavy drums and bass.

How do you use "jungle"?

Often used with 'the' when referring to the habitat in general. Commonly used in the phrase 'it's a jungle out there'. Uncountable in this sense.

jungle

US //ˈdʒəŋɡəɫ// UK //dʒˈʌŋɡəl// jun·gle

1 tropical forest (n.)
A2 Elementary

a thick, tropical forest where many wild plants and animals live.

a dense, humid tropical forest or rainforest characterized by thick undergrowth.

Example

The explorers spent three days trekking through the thick jungle to find the ancient temple.

Example

Conservationists are working to protect the remaining jungle from illegal logging that threatens the habitat of endangered primates.

Usage

Often used with 'the' when referring to the habitat in general.
- rainforest
- wilds
- desert
- city
2 ruthless environment (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

a place where people are very competitive and do not follow rules or care about others.

a place or situation characterized by ruthless competition, struggle for survival, or a lack of moral constraints.

Example

The business world can be a jungle where only the strongest companies survive.

Example

In the cutthroat world of high-frequency trading, many young professionals find the office environment to be a literal jungle.

Usage

Commonly used in the phrase 'it's a jungle out there'.

Teacher's tip

This is a common metaphor in business or urban life to describe harsh competition.
- rat race
- chaos

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3 tangled mess (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

a messy or complicated group of things that are hard to separate.

a confused or tangled mass of objects or ideas.

Example

There was a jungle of computer cables behind his desk that took hours to untangle.

Example

The garden had become a jungle of weeds and overgrown vines after years of neglect by the previous owners.
- order
4 music genre (n.)
C1 Advanced Technical Music

a type of fast electronic dance music with heavy drums and bass.

a style of electronic dance music characterized by very fast breakbeats and heavy basslines, originating in the early 1990s.

Example

The club played old-school jungle music all night long.

Example

The producer's early tracks were instrumental in defining the jungle sound before the genre evolved into modern drum and bass.

Usage

Uncountable in this sense.

Teacher's tip

While related to 'drum and bass', jungle is often seen as the earlier, more raw version of the genre.
- drum and bass

Origin

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

Idioms4 entries