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Definition of "gorilla" []

  • The largest of the anthropoid apes (Gorilla gorilla) native to the forests of equatorial Africa, having a stocky body and coarse, dark brown or black hair. (noun)
  • Slang A brutish man. (noun)
  • Slang A thug. (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.

Use "gorilla" in a sentence
  • "From a purely realistic scientific view, it turns out the gorilla is a poor choice for a monster; better would be the more violent chimpanzee."
  • ""Dat is what you call gorilla warfare," said Von Baumser, with a proud consciousness of having mastered an English idiom."
  • "NASA, that bureaucratic 800-lb gorilla, is struggling under a very specific series of mandates called the VSE."