HomeServicesBlogDictionariesContactSpanish Course
Back to search

mongo

Noun CEFR C2 Specialized
ˈmoŋ.ɡo

Definitions

  1. Still-usable things salvaged (by sanmen) from garbage.
    New-York-City, uncountable
  2. Clipping of mongoloid.
  3. mung bean
  4. A former subdivision of Mongolian currency, equal to one hundredth of a tugrik (tögrög).
  5. A Bantu language spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  6. Acronym of my own NGO.
  7. A manner of pushing oneself on a skateboard with one's front foot as opposed to one's back foot.

Equivalents

FrançaisMongo
Portuguêsmongo
2 more languages
Suomimongo
Монголмөнгө

Examples

“The old room was furnished in "mongo," Sanit lingo for stuff picked out of the garbage. Mongo-picking, Ukeles explained, "is against the law. The garbage belongs to the City. But until a recent rehabilitation program⟳, which is the first since the Depression, the Sanmen never had their own⟳ furnishings." Prior to the show⟳, the Sanmen voted on the worst facilities in the system and Ukeles selected the exhibition mongo from them—shabby, broken-down furniture, walls cluttered with cheap […]”
“[Mongo] refers to trash, or more specifically, to treasure found in trash: books, artifacts, furniture, even food. Ted Botha's book explores a whole culture, and various subcultures, that revolve around mongo. Those obsessed with mongo often live⟳ on the margins, […]”
“Loading out on house-to-house can take⟳ many hours, but such routes have⟳ other perks, especially for someone who likes to mongo. As a noun, “mongo” is Sanitation slang for treasure salvaged from the trash, with an understanding that the definition of “treasure” is both broad and personal. As a verb, “to mongo” is to look⟳ for and rescue⟳ such wealth. Sal Federici didn't mongo, but he tolerated his partner's predilection for it. Ray Kurtz was not the district's acknowledged mongo king, […]”
“push⟳ mongo”

CEFR level

C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
See all C2 English words →

See also

Learn this word in context

See mongo used in real conversations inside our free language course.

Start Free Course

Know this word better than we do? Language is a living thing — help us keep it growing. Collaborate with Babel Free