Lexic.us

Definition of Gorilla

1. Noun. Largest anthropoid ape; terrestrial and vegetarian; of forests of central west Africa.

Definition of Gorilla

1. n. A large, arboreal, anthropoid ape of West Africa. It is larger than a man, and is remarkable for its massive skeleton and powerful muscles, which give it enormous strength. In some respects its anatomy, more than that of any other ape, except the chimpanzee, resembles that of man.

Definition of Gorilla

1. Noun. The largest of the apes, native to the forests of central Africa, and known for its trait of knuckle-walking ¹

2. Noun. A big and brutish man or a thug; a goon or ruffian. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Gorilla

1. a large ape [n -S]

Medical Definition of Gorilla

1. A large, arboreal, anthropoid ape of West Africa. It is larger than a man, and is remarkable for its massive skeleton and powerful muscles, which give it enormous strength. In some respects its anatomy, more than that of any other ape, except the chimpanzee, resembles that of man. Origin: An African word; found in a Greek translation of a treatise in Punic by Hanno, a Carthaginian. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Gorilla

Literary usage of Gorilla

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica, a Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and edited by Hugh Chisholm (1910)
"comparison with the gorilla, as on the whole the most anthropomorphous ape. In the general proportions of the body and limbs there is a marked difference ..."

2. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General by Thomas Spencer Baynes (1888)
"In man the surface of the skull is comparatively smooth, and the brow-ridges project but little, while in the gorilla these ridges overhang the cavernous ..."

3. The Uncivilized Races of Men in All Countries of the World by John George Wood (1882)
"Formidable as are the terrible jaws and teeth of the gorilla when it ... As to the houses which the gorilla is said to build, there is some truth in the ..."

4. The Anthropological Review by Anthropological Society of London (1863)
"The proportions of the anterior extremity in the gorilla are here given in the greatest ... Every ape, until the gorilla became known to the anatomist, ..."

5. Report of the Annual Meeting (1869)
"The paper was illustrated by numerous drawings, and a model of the viscera of the gorilla. Two of these apes (gorillas), a voung one and an adult, ..."

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