a location marked by an intense competition and struggle for survival
"The startup industry has become a brutal jungle where only the most adaptable companies survive."
an impenetrable equatorial forest
"The explorers struggled through the dense, impenetrable jungle of the Amazon basin before finally spotting a clearing in the equatorial rainforest."
A large, undeveloped, humid forest, especially in a tropical region, that is home to many wild plants and animals; a tropical rainforest.
"We trekked deep into the dense jungle, where towering trees and exotic wildlife thrived in the humid heat."
In plain English: A jungle is an area with very thick, dense forests full of tall trees and lots of plants growing wild together.
"The explorers had to navigate through the dense jungle to find their way back home."
Usage: Use "jungle" as a noun to describe dense, humid forests with thick vegetation where few people live or travel easily. Avoid using it simply for any green area unless you specifically mean an untamed tropical wilderness filled with wild plants and animals.
resembling the fast-paced drumming of traditional peoples of the jungle.
"The drummer's frantic rhythm sounded like a wild, beating heart from deep within the jungle."
In plain English: Jungle describes something that is very messy and chaotic, with things thrown everywhere without any order.
"The jungle path was covered in thick vines and ferns."
The word "jungle" comes from the Hindustani term jaṅgal, which originally meant an arid or sterile desert before traveling into English around 1776. Although its current meaning refers to dense tropical forests, it was first recorded in a translation by Nathaniel Halhed with this older sense of barren land.