chimpanzee

[ chim-pan-zee, chim-pan-zee ]

/ ˌtʃɪm pænˈzi, tʃɪmˈpæn zi /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR chimpanzee ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a large, somewhat arboreal anthropoid ape, Pan troglodytes, of equatorial Africa, having a brown-to-black coat, a relatively hairless face with a rounded muzzle, prominent ears, and hands adapted for knuckle-walking, noted for its intelligence and humanlike behavior: now greatly reduced in number and threatened with extinction in the wild.

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Compare pygmy chimpanzee.

Origin of chimpanzee

First recorded in 1730–40; presumably < a Bantu language of the Atlantic coast

Words nearby chimpanzee

chimney wheel, chimney-pot hat, chimneypiece, chimneypot, chimp, chimpanzee, chimu, chin, chin ball, chin cactus, chin cough

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for chimpanzee

As a friend once told me, “A chimpanzee could have made money in L.A. real estate—and many did.”
Trustafarians Want to Tell You How to Live|Joel Kotkin|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The author of Guns, Germs, and Steel is out with an adaptation for young people of The Third Chimpanzee.
Jared Diamond Talks About His New Book for Young Readers|William O’Connor|April 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Tell me about your earliest personal interaction with a chimpanzee.
How I Write: Jane Goodall|Noah Charney|April 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On Wednesday, the collection of pictures by Mikki (pictured above), a chimpanzee, reeled in roughly $75,000 at Sotheby's.
Monkey Business|William O’Connor|June 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST

He clung to me like a chimpanzee baby with all four of his weakened limbs.
RIP Cobber|David Frum|October 1, 2012|DAILY BEAST
A fish produces several thousand eggs—while the elephant or the chimpanzee have only a few young who live many years.
Socialism and Modern Science (Darwin, Spencer, Marx)|Enrico Ferri
The chimpanzee by nature is more sociable and is fond of human society.
Gorillas & Chimpanzees|R. L. Garner
Whether there are or are not more than one species of Chimpanzee, is a matter which has exercised and perplexed naturalists.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia|Frank Evers Beddard
If you called a woman a chimpanzee instead of an angel, wouldn't there be a quarrel about a word?
The Ball and The Cross|G.K. Chesterton
The Catarrhini are restricted entirely to the Old World, and include the gorilla, the chimpanzee and orang-utan.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5|Various

British Dictionary definitions for chimpanzee

chimpanzee

/ (ˌtʃɪmpænˈziː) /

noun

a gregarious and intelligent anthropoid ape, Pan troglodytes, inhabiting forests in central W Africa

Word Origin for chimpanzee

C18: from Kongo dialect

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

chimpanzee

noun

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Origin of chimpanzee

Words nearby chimpanzee

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British Dictionary definitions for chimpanzee

noun

Word Origin for chimpanzee