Barbary ape

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noun

a tailless macaque, Macaca sylvanus, of mountain ranges in northwestern Africa, now greatly reduced in number: a small, managed colony of unknown origin is maintained on the Rock of Gibraltar.

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Origin of Barbary ape

First recorded in 1870–75

Words nearby Barbary ape

Barbarossa, Barbarossa I, Barbarossa II, barbarous, Barbary, Barbary ape, Barbary Coast, Barbary Coast Wars, Barbary fig, Barbary sheep, Barbary States

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Barbary ape in a sentence

His play The Hairy Ape, the agent noted, “could easily lend itself to radical propaganda.”
Was the Unabomber a Eugene O’Neill Fan?|Robert M. Dowling|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was just another crazy Twitter account, with one exception: this ugly ape represented me, without my permission.
How I (Digitally) Killed My Twitter Impostor|JoBeth McDaniel|July 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They found that 60 percent of plantations overlapped with great ape habitat across the entire area.
Our Taste for Cheap Palm Oil Is Killing Chimpanzees|Carrie Arnold|July 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But a series of misunderstandings triggers an all-out war between man and ape, threatening the future of mankind.
Motion Capture Maestro Andy Serkis on ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ and Revolutionizing Cinema|Marlow Stern|July 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Yup, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld compared President Obama to an ape.
Fringe Factor: Convicted Killer, Registered Sex Offender Runs for California Governor|Caitlin Dickson|March 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Widder Morse wants to ape these well-to-do folks that live tother end o Whiffle Street.
The Girls of Central High on the Stage|Gertrude W. Morrison
In the cave of Naulette, near Dinant, Belgium, has been found the lower jaw of a man of decidedly ape-like aspect.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris
The lower jaws in both were heavy, while the woman was almost destitute of a chin—a marked ape-like characteristic.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris
This disposition the man-ape lost as its foot fitted itself to the surface of the ground.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris
It is quite within the limits of probability, for instance, that the man-ape at an early date became omnivorous in its diet.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris

British Dictionary definitions for Barbary ape

Barbary ape

noun

a tailless macaque, Macaca sylvana, that inhabits rocky cliffs and forests in NW Africa and Gibraltar: family Cercopithecidae, order Primates

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012