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

Legends did a story last spring where the team enlisted the help of character actor John Noble (playing himself) as part of a larger plan to protect a college-aged Barack Obama from getting killed by a psychic gorilla. — Noel Murray, The Verge, "The 20 best TV series of 2018," 12 Dec. 2018 When gorillas are found struggling with snares, the vets are called in to clean wounds. — Christina Larson, The Seattle Times, "Rare conservation win: Mountain gorilla population ticks up," 14 Nov. 2018 Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo in 1971, and Dr. Francine Patterson began teaching the gorilla sign language that became part of a Stanford University project in 1974. — CBS News, "Koko, the gorilla who mastered sign language, dead at 46," 21 June 2018 Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo, and Dr. Francine 'Penny' Patterson began teaching the gorilla sign language that became part of a Stanford University project in 1974. — Chris Irvine, Fox News, "Koko, the gorilla who mastered sign language, dies at 46," 21 June 2018 Funny animations show gorillas munching on leaves while gossiping about their encounter with the pith-helmeted explorer. — New York Times, "Don’t Try to Catch a Komodo Dragon — Unless You’re David Attenborough," 29 May 2018 Giant misunderstood gorillas are meant to die fantastically and tragically on film as a reflection of fearful, ignorant humans. — Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, "'Rampage': We went berserk when we saw The Rock's altered ending (spoilers!)," 14 Apr. 2018 Southern Living Like humans, the majority of a gorilla's funk comes from the armpits. — Craig Hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, "Texican: Up close and personal with a gorilla," 14 Feb. 2018 Google came under fire in 2015 when its photo app tagged two African-American users as gorillas. — Sue Shellenbarger, WSJ, "A Crucial Step for Averting AI Disasters," 13 Feb. 2019

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

18 Apr 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