mandrill

noun

man·​drill ˈman-drəl How to pronounce mandrill (audio)
: a large baboon (Mandrillus sphinx synonym Papio sphinx) of central Africa west of the Congo River with the male having a bright red and blue muzzle

Illustration of mandrill

Illustration of mandrill

Examples of mandrill in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The mandrills could detect infection status based on smell alone: mandrills presented with two bamboo stalks rubbed in feces strongly avoided a stalk rubbed with droppings from another mandrill that had lots of parasites. Scientific American, 1 July 2020 Riccardo Pansini and Jan de Ruiter from Durham University watched a 18-year-old mandrill called JC clean his toenails out using small splinters. Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 7 July 2011 The ride sees guests sitting in the arms of a mandrill while dodging jungle hazards before rocketing to the summit of the 55ft tall Jaguar Shrine – and then travelling the track backwards. K.j. Yossman, Variety, 14 May 2023 While jewelers have immortalized living things as quirky as the mandrill, the jellyfish and the magpie, Fasel, whose Beautiful Creatures exhibition finally opened in June 2021 for a spectacular three-month run, noted some recurring themes in the animal jewelry oeuvre. Victoria Gomelsky, Robb Report, 15 July 2022 The median life expectancy for a mandrill is 18. Sofia Krusmark, The Arizona Republic, 29 Apr. 2022 Milly, for example, was second from bottom in the mandrill pecking order. Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 3 Feb. 2011 After taking swabs from mandrill sternal glands, researchers genotyped each sample to determine the monkey's major histocompatibility complex (MHC)--a unique genetic signature related to the animal's immune system. Joseph Calamia, Discover Magazine, 5 Aug. 2010 Balamuthia mandrillaris was first identified in 1986—not in a hospital but at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where staff were eagerly anticipating the birth of a mandrill, the largest species of monkey. Bykatherine Kornei, science.org, 3 Feb. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mandrill.' 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

probably from man entry 1 + drill entry 3

First Known Use

1774, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mandrill was in 1774

Dictionary Entries Near mandrill

Cite this Entry

“Mandrill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandrill. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.

Kids Definition

mandrill

noun
man·​drill ˈman-drəl How to pronounce mandrill (audio)
: a large baboon of western Africa with a red rump and in the male with blue ridges on the sides of the nose

More from Merriam-Webster on mandrill

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!