monkey jacket

English

monkey jacket (plural monkey jackets)

(dated) A type of close-fit jacket worn by sailors
- 1820, Francis Forbes, "The Banks of Newfoundland":
  You bully boys of Liverpool, I'll have you to beware,
  
  When you sail on them packet ships, no dungaree jumpers wear;
  
  But have a big monkey jacket all ready to your hand,
  
  For there blows some cold nor'westers on the Banks of Newfoundland.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:
  We were fain to button up our monkey jackets, and hold to our lips cups of scalding tea with our half frozen fingers.
A semiformal lightweight jacket, usually made of nylon, with striped cuffs and neck, similar to an MA-1 flight jacket.