monkey jacket

Noun

1. A type of close-fitting jacket worn by sailors.
   • 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...
   • We were fain to button up our monkey jackets, and hold to our lips cups of scalding tea with our half frozen fingers. - 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 3, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition,...
   • We did not even possess "two coats apiece" - our ordinary costume being waterproof monkey jackets, sailor hats with puggarees twined round them, and some simple white muslin or fresh cotton dresses. - 1887, Harriet W....
2. A semiformal lightweight jacket, usually made of nylon, with striped cuffs and neck, similar to an MA-1 flight jacket.
3. A hospital gown.