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Definition of "ape-man" []

  • Any of various extinct primates, such as pithecanthropus, sometimes considered intermediate in evolution between the anthropoid apes and modern humans. Not in scientific usage. (noun)
  • A person or creature held to combine characteristics of apes and humans, as: (noun)
  • A brawny or brutish man. (noun)
  • An archetype of the primitive or instinctual aspect of human nature: "The superman has created the airplane and the radio, the ape-man has got hold of them” ( Los Angeles Times). (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 "ape-man" in a sentence
  • "Bush doesn't go to the competition which has been decorated as monkeys as well as apes for centuries. my HS biology teacher who was the clever disciple of expansion caused people tend to hold in expansion as he looked really most similar to an ape-man."
  • "Unlike other reports, this Alma is a rougher, hairier human-like creature than an ape-man."
  • "The way this monster is represented is not so much as an ape-man, but more animal-like."