Definition of "bongo" [bon•go]

• A large, forest-dwelling antelope (Boocercus eurycerus) of central Africa, having a reddish-brown coat with white stripes and spirally twisted horns. (noun)
• One of a pair of connected tuned drums that are played by beating with the hands. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Edison took the stage second, and, calling a bongo player from the crowd, read one of his classic tales of pot and porn in traditional Beatnik fashion."
• "I discovered there's an animal called a bongo the fact that I didn't know this stuns us all, and did I mention there were several tigers?"
• "Tanzania's nickname is "bongo," which means clever, and they'll need all the intelligence they can muster."