monkey hanger

noun

A person from Hartlepool.

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Meanings

nounmonkey hanger (plural monkey hangers)

plural monkey hangers

  1. NorthumbriaTeessideoffensiveA person from Hartlepool.

Origin

Citizens of Hartlepool are alleged to have thought that a monkey which washed up onto the beach by the town during the Napoleonic wars was a French spy, and to have hanged it accordingly.

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Cite this entry
APA

monkey hanger. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monkey%20hanger

MLA

“monkey hanger.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monkey%20hanger. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “monkey hanger,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monkey%20hanger.

Source: monkey hanger on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.