jungle

plural jungles · alternative dated jangal

1. countableuncountableA large, lush, undeveloped, humid forest, especially in a tropical region, thick with vegetation and wildlife; a tropical rainforest.

   He's free as a breeze He's always at ease He lives in the jungle And hangs by his knees As he swings through trees Without a trapeze In his BVD's.

   1969, “Gitarzan”, Ray Stevens, Bill Everette (lyrics), performed by Ray Stevens

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   As Tarzan walked down the wild cañon beneath the brilliant African moon, the call of the jungle was strong upon him. The solitude and the savage freedom filled his heart with life and buoyancy. Again he was Tarzan of the Apes—every sense alert against the chance of surprise by some jungle enemy—yet treading lightly and with head erect, in proud consciousness of his might.

   1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantyne Books, published 1963, page 81

2. BangladeshIndiaNepalPakistanSouth AsiaSri LankacountableuncountableAny uncultivated tract of forest or scrub habitat.
3. colloquialcountableuncountableA place where people behave ruthlessly, unconstrained by law or morality.

   It’s a jungle out there.

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   'How do you like this corner of the jungle?' He leant forward. 'Just listen in to the couple behind you. From what I've heard they're straight out of "Nigger Heaven".'

   1954, Ian Fleming, “Nigger Heaven”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 46

   The first-timer just doesn't know what's going on when he gets to jail. […] It's a jungle, you've got to look after yourself first.

   1984, Barry Ellem, Doing Time, page 25

   But of course, that excludes the narcissistic delusionals, the deliberate frauds, and the pathological cases of multiple personality. They are all out there in New Age Land, and it's a jungle!

   2005, Laura Knight-Jadczyk, The High Strangeness of Dimensions, Densities, and the Process of Alien Abduction

4. countablefigurativelyuncountableA tangled mess.

   […] lost in such a jungle of intrigues, pettifoggings, treacheries, diplomacies domestic and foreign […]

   1858–1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC

5. countableslanguncountableAn area where hobos camp together.
6. uncountableentertainmentA style of electronic dance music and precursor of drum and bass.

   In large part, happycore was the result of an exodus of white ravers from the jungle scene, in reaction to the influx of black youth and the attendant mood change from bonhomie to surliness.

   2013, Simon Reynolds, Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture, page 291

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   Always more multiracial than other post-Rave scenes, Hardcore got “blacker” as hiphop, Ragga, dub and Soul influences kicked in, and by 93 it had evolved into Jungle. By this point, Hardcore/Jungle (the terms remain interchangeable) was universally scorned by dance hipsters and banished from the media.

   1994 September, Simon Reynolds, “Above The Treeline”, in The Wire

7. countableslanguncountablegolfDense rough.

   Hitting from the Jungle. The rough at some courses is just weeds and sparse grass, as often as not giving a player a decent lie to shoot from. But grass above four inches is nasty. It will grab your club and alter your shots.

   2006, Rob Blumer, Rex Chaney, Essential golf instruction, page 167

   Synonyms: tiger country

8. countableslanguncountableA dense mass of pubic hair.

alternative dated jangal

1. not comparableusuallyOf musical beat; rhythm; Of musical beat; rhythmresembling the fast-paced drumming of traditional peoples of the jungle.

   She gave her first performance at the Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles, offering festival dances, Moro tribal rituals, primitive jungle rhythms and rice harvest ceremonials.

   1939 January 8, The Tribune, Manila, page 13, column 2

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   Somewhere further up the valley a bunch of hippies were getting back to nature by loading up on mind altering chemicals and overwhelming their senses with five million decibels of digital bass and jungle beats.

   2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 9