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menagerie

A menagerie (pronounced muh-NA-juh-ree, with NA as in "national") is a collection of live animals that people visit, study, or keep as pets. If you really want a backyard menagerie of farm animals after visiting the petting zoo, take a long sniff and remember what comes with them.

Pet lovers can have a menagerie of cats, dogs, and birds or exotic animals such as snakes, ferrets, and piranhas. Zoos have animal collections like the menagerie of sea creatures in the aquarium and the swinging apes in the jungle menagerie. And a science or medical center may have a menagerie of rats for studying behavior. If you want a menagerie, an ant farm is a good one: lots of animals in a container, always working, and never stinking up the place.

DEFINITIONS OF: menagerie

1

n a collection of live animals for study or display

Type of:
accumulation, aggregation, assemblage, collection
several things grouped together or considered as a whole

n the facility where wild animals are housed for exhibition

Synonyms:
zoo, zoological garden
Type of:
facility, installation
a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry
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