gorilla

noun

go·ril·la | \ gə-ˈri-lə

Definition of gorilla

1 : 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

2a : an ugly or brutal man

b : thug, goon

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Examples of gorilla in a Sentence

She hired some gorilla as her bodyguard. the loan shark sent a couple of gorillas to “convince” him to pay up

Recent Examples on the Web

The study began with a counterintuitive observation: Even silverback gorillas, those stereotypically fearsome and powerful apes, turn out to love babies. — Alison Gopnik, WSJ, "For Gorillas, Being a Good Dad Is Sexy," 30 Nov. 2018 Why not get everybody together to go against the big bad gorilla in the room? — Fox News, "Rep. Ed Royce on US relations with Russia, Turkey and Iran; Rep. Devin Nunes on Bruce Ohr and the push to declassify DOJ documents," 12 Aug. 2018 Dian Fossey, 1932-1985: San Francisco native. Researched gorillas in Rwanda from 1966 to 1985. — Tony Bravo, San Francisco Chronicle, "New Barbie Role Model dolls include SF Ballet dancer Yuan Yuan Tan," 6 Mar. 2018 The Arrested Development star then talked about one of her wife's heroes, conservationist and gorilla researcher Dian Fossey, who dedicated her life to saving mountain gorillas in Rwanda. — Jackie Frere, Redbook, "Portia de Rossi's Birthday Gift to Ellen DeGeneres Will Make You Weep," 2 Feb. 2018 The Riverbanks Zoo shared several photos of the baby on Facebook; most of the images show the infant gorilla wearing a big smile, cuddled up to mom. — Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, "Your Wednesday Cute: Meet the Adorable Newborn Baby Gorilla of the Riverbanks Zoo," 6 June 2018 There may be nearly twice as many gorillas in the world than previously thought, a new study reveals. — Casey Quackenbush, Time, "A New Study Reveals That There Are a Lot More Gorillas Than We Thought," 26 Apr. 2018 In the past few years some of Uganda’s gorillas died of natural causes, with some falling from trees and others killed in battles between males fighting for territory or dominance. — Washington Post, "Uganda counts gorillas amid tourism-boosting ‘baby boom’," 25 Apr. 2018 Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy are pure comedy gold, but the film’s conclusion takes place on a train on New Year’s Eve, involving some additional mistaken identities, and one angry gorilla. — Vogue, "The Best New Year’s Eve–Theme Movies and TV Shows to Watch Tonight," 31 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gorilla.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

19 Feb 2019

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Time Traveler for gorilla

The first known use of gorilla was in 1832

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More Definitions for gorilla

gorilla

noun

Financial Definition of gorilla

What It Is

A gorilla is a company that controls most of the market for a product or service.

How It Works

For example, in the 1990s, Microsoft was a gorilla in the market for operating systems. Sure, there were competitors, but they were very small, had tiny market shares, and avoided taking Microsoft on directly. Microsoft had billions to invest in marketing and innovation, and could easily undercut, out-distribute, and outsell these tiny competitors. As the saying goes, an 800-pound gorilla does whatever it wants.

Why It Matters

A gorilla's huge size means that competitors must carefully consider the gorilla's potential reactions to certain business decisions. Many gorillas have a shot at monopolizing the market. However, federal antitrust laws, most notably the Sherman Act, make collusive activity and monopolistic behavior illegal in the United States. There is, however, still an incentive to compete with a gorilla. After all, an undetected price cut (or increase in production) will attract customers who are buying from the gorilla and customers who are not buying the product at all. Price adjustments may be subtle, including better credit terms, faster delivery or related free services.

Gorillas are most effective when the demand for the gorilla's product is not very affected by price. This is why gorillas are more effective in the short term; over the long term, prices often become elastic as consumers find cheaper substitutes for the product.

Source: Investing Answers

gorilla

noun