monkey on one's back

monkey on one's back idiom
  1. Drug addiction, as in He'd had a monkey on his back for at least two years. [Slang; first half of 1900s]
  2. A vexing problem or burden, as in This project has proved to be a monkey on my back—there seems to be no end to it. Both usages allude to being unable to shake off the animal from one's back.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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