Monk n.
 1. A man who retires from the ordinary temporal concerns of the world, and devotes himself to religion; one of a religious community of men inhabiting a monastery, and bound by vows to a life of chastity, obedience, and poverty. “A monk out of his cloister.”
    Monks in some respects agree with regulars, as in the substantial vows of religion; but in other respects monks and regulars differ; for that regulars, vows excepted, are not tied up to so strict a rule of life as monks are.   --Ayliffe.
 2. Print. A blotch or spot of ink on a printed page, caused by the ink not being properly distributed. It is distinguished from a friar, or white spot caused by a deficiency of ink.
 3. A piece of tinder made of agaric, used in firing the powder hose or train of a mine.
 4. Zool. (a) A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also applied to other species, as Cebus xanthocephalus. (b) The European bullfinch.
 Monk bat Zool., a South American and West Indian bat (Molossus nasutus); -- so called because the males live in communities by themselves.
 Monk birdZool., the friar bird.
 Monk seal Zool., a species of seal (Monachus albiventer) inhabiting the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the adjacent parts of the Atlantic.
 Monk's rhubarb Bot., a kind of dock; -- also called patience (Rumex Patientia).
 ◄ ►
 Seal n.  Zool. Any aquatic carnivorous mammal of the families Phocidae and Otariidae.
 Note: ☞ Seals inhabit seacoasts, and are found principally in the higher latitudes of both hemispheres. There are numerous species, bearing such popular names as sea lion, sea leopard, sea bear, or ursine seal, fur seal, and sea elephant. The bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus), the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata), and the ringed seal (Phoca foetida), are northern species. See also Eared seal, Harp seal, Monk seal, and Fur seal, under Eared, Harp, Monk, and Fur. Seals are much hunted for their skins and fur, and also for their oil, which in some species is very abundant.
 Harbor seal Zool., the common seal (Phoca vitulina). It inhabits both the North Atlantic and the North Pacific Ocean, and often ascends rivers; -- called also marbled seal, native seal, river seal, bay seal, land seal, sea calf, sea cat, sea dog, dotard, ranger, selchie, tangfish.