: a very large typically black-colored anthropoid ape (Gorilla gorilla) of equatorial Africa that has a stocky body with broad shoulders and long arms and is less erect and has smaller ears than the chimpanzee
She hired some gorilla as her bodyguard.
the loan shark sent a couple of gorillas to “convince” him to pay up
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Culture is less well studied in gorillas than in other great apes.—Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 10 June 2025 The idea for the fight was born out of the viral 100 men vs. one gorilla online debate.—Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 29 May 2025 The Federal Reserve has emerged as the 800-pound gorilla in the legal fight over President Trump’s firings of agency leaders traditionally independent from the White House.—Ella Lee, The Hill, 28 May 2025 Photo : Courtesy of Doli Lodge Canoe River Track Gorillas in the Congo Basin
The mountain gorillas of Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, Africa’s gorilla-tracking epicenter, see almost 100 tourists per day trampling around their turf.—Chris Schalkx, Robb Report, 15 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for gorilla
Word History
Etymology
New Latin, from Greek Gorillai, plural, a tribe of hairy women mentioned in an account of a voyage around Africa
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