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: any of a genus (Hylobates of the family Hylobatidae) of agile brachiating tailless apes of southeastern Asia that are the smallest and most arboreal anthropoid apes
Examples of gibbon in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Caesar, the ape revolutionary who led the chimps, gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, and gibbons to dominance in the reboot trilogy, is long dead by the time Kingdom’s action begins.
—James Grebey, TIME, 10 May 2024
Animals call before eclipse Animals called as the eclipse began, the gibbons started singing and hooting, and the sea lions began vocalizing.
—Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 10 Apr. 2024
Young explains that the swinging birds exerted as much force on their beaks as a swinging gibbon does on its arm, if not more.
—Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2024
First, early apes used their arms to swing through the trees like modern-day gibbons found in Asia do today.
—Discover Magazine, 29 Jan. 2024
But Prime says researchers didn't know if skywalker gibbons existed in Myanmar until now because little research has been done on gibbons in general.
—Ailsa Chang, NPR, 23 Feb. 2024
Silly love songs Skywalker gibbons can’t swim, so rivers often form natural boundaries for them.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 14 Feb. 2024
Although rhinos are the star attraction on park safaris, all sorts of animals live here, including tigers, elephants, gibbons, sloth bears, and a small number of endangered Ganges River dolphins.
—Margot Bigg, Travel + Leisure, 28 Jan. 2024
Cant was studying the locomotion of monkeys, gibbons, and orangutans for his research on the evolution of the primate musculoskeletal system.
—Karen Wright, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gibbon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
French
First Known Use
1774, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near gibbon
Cite this Entry
“Gibbon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gibbon. Accessed 10 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
gibbon
noun
gib·bon
ˈgib-ən
: any of several tailless apes of southeastern Asia that are smaller and spend more time in trees than the gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan
Biographical Definition
More from Merriam-Webster on gibbon
Nglish: Translation of gibbon for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about gibbon
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