SINCE 1828
macaque
noun
ma·caque
| \ mə-ˈkak
, -ˈkäk
\
, -ˈkäk
\
Definition of macaque
: any of a genus (Macaca) of chiefly Asian monkeys typically having a sturdy build and including some short-tailed or tailless forms
especially
: rhesus monkey
Illustration of macaque
Examples of macaque in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Grady is an 11-month-old rhesus macaque who lives at the Oregon National Primate Research Center just west of Portland. — Brianna Abbott, WSJ, "New Hope for Fertility of Young Cancer Patients Using Frozen Testicular Tissue," 21 Mar. 2019 The research involving macaque monkeys found that the monkeys developed CWD after eating infected meat from deer and elk, and some of the meat came from infected deer that had CWD but didn’t show symptoms yet. — Korin Miller, SELF, "What You Need to Know About So-Called 'Zombie' Deer Disease," 20 Feb. 2019 The monkey is the 10th primate to die accidentally at the UW since 2009, when a male macaque starved to death. — Sandi Doughton, The Seattle Times, "Research monkey strangles to death at new UW animal lab," 20 Sep. 2018 China has developed expertise in studying the brain using macaques, and animal research faces less opposition in China than in the West. — Dennis Normile, Science | AAAS, "Here's how China is challenging the U.S. and European brain initiatives," 22 May 2018 Pretty soon, other macaques were joining in on the fun. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Chilling Out in Hot Springs May Help Japan’s Snow Monkeys Reduce Stress," 5 Apr. 2018 One of the most interesting things is the finding that the vasopressin in the CSF correlates with sociality in the macaques and in autism with children. — Andrew Joseph, STAT, "In monkeys, researchers find possible biological marker of autism," 2 May 2018 The animal, later identified as a rhesus macaque named Dawkins, was tranquilized two hours after initially escaping and transported to a sanctuary, KSAT reported. — Jennifer Earl, Fox News, "Monkey escapes crate at San Antonio airport, flees to baggage area," 22 May 2018 In Bali, macaques steal trinkets from tourists and hoard them as bartering tools for food (in this case, the exchange rate appears to be one pair of eyeglasses for a slice of bread). — Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian, "How Humans Created the Ultimate Superpests," 9 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'macaque.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for macaque
macaque
noun
ma·caque
| \ mə-ˈkak
, -ˈkäk\
, -ˈkäk\
Kids Definition of macaque
: a monkey mostly found in Asia that often has a short tail
macaque
noun
ma·caque
| \ mə-ˈkak
, -ˈkäk
\
, -ˈkäk
\
Medical Definition of macaque
: any of numerous short-tailed Old World monkeys of the genus Macaca and related genera chiefly of southern Asia
especially
: rhesus monkey
Comments on macaque
What made you want to look up macaque? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Finance Words Quiz
-
- The etymology of mortgage is related most closely to which two words?
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Words at Play
Share macaque
Resources for macaque