I. ˈjəŋgəl noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Hindi jaṅgal, from Sanskrit jāṅgala
1. India
a. : uncultivated ground
b. : land overgrown (as with brushwood)
2.
a. : an impenetrable thicket or tangled mass of tropical vegetation some parts of which can be lived in by native people or wild animals
b. : a tract overgrown with thickets or masses of vegetation
3. : a hobo camp
stays here all the time and runs this jungle — Burl Ives
4.
a.
(1) : a confused or chaotic mass or assemblage of objects : tangle , jumble
a jungle of gigantic tanks and curiously shaped pipes — American Guide Series: Arkansas
an old-fashioned used-car junkyard jungle — N.F.Busch
(2) : something that baffles, perplexes, or frustrates by its tangled, complex, or deviously intricate character : maze
a perfect jungle of minute regulations — John Buchan
a bureaucratic jungle of double-talk and evasions — P.B.Williamson
difficult … to find one's way through the medieval jungle — G.G.Coulton
b. : a place or scene of ruthless struggle for survival
turned international economy into a jungle — W.L.Clayton
a tale of teenage gang violence in the concrete jungle — Arthur Gelb
II. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to inhabit a jungle
tiny beasts that have jungled in that pale forest — John Galsworthy
2. : to camp in a hobo jungle
jungled up with four others beside a creek — Nelson Algren