monkey patch

noun

A patch which alters the behaviour of a program by forcibly overriding aspects of the original code at runtime.

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Meanings

nounmonkey patch (plural monkey patches)

plural monkey patches · alternative monkeypatch · alternative monkey-patch

  1. slangcomputingA patch which alters the behaviour of a program by forcibly overriding aspects of the original code at runtime.
verbmonkey patch (third-person singular simple present monkey patches, present participle monkey patching, simple past and past participle monkey patched)

present singular third person monkey patches · participle present monkey patching · participle past monkey patched · past monkey patched · alternative monkeypatch · alternative monkey-patch

  1. slangtransitivecomputingTo alter the behaviour of a program by forcibly overriding aspects of the original code at runtime.

    Even though that works with some browsers, others provide Anchor objects without click() methods. Add this magic code to your application.js, to Monkey Patch a JavaScript click() event:

    2007, Philip C. Plumlee, Test Driven Ajax (on Rails)

Origin

Apparently from earlier guerrilla patch (“code that sneakily changes other code”), understood as gorilla patch. A monkey patch was then a more carefully written instance of such a patch. Or simply derived from monkey (“to mess with”, verb).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

monkey patch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monkey%20patch

MLA

“monkey patch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monkey%20patch. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “monkey patch,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monkey%20patch.

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