noun
monte
MON-tee
noun
1
A gambling card game in which several cards are dealt face-up and players bet on which will be the next to match a card already turned.
"The men gathered around a table in the back room, playing monte for small stakes."
"She learned monte from her grandfather during long summer evenings."
2
A stretch of wooded or scrubby land; rough timber country.
"The trail disappeared into thick monte before reaching the river."
How to Use Monte
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither a betting card game or, in some regional English, wild wooded country.
Common mistake
Don't confuse with "Monte" as part of a place name (Montenegro, Monterey) — those are unrelated proper-noun uses, not the common noun.
Common pairings
play monte
a game of monte
Word Forms
montes plural, Montes plural
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The men gathered around a table in the back room, playing _____ for small stakes.
Etymology
From Spanish monte ("mountain"); the card-game sense comes from the pile of undealt cards, pictured as a little "mountain" on the table. Related to "mount."