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• gibbon
  gibbon

  noun

  any of the small arboreal apes of the East Indies and southern Asia that belong to the four genera of the family Hylobatidae (the lesser apes), displaying strong territorial behavior with vigorous vocalization and having wrists much like ball-and-socket joints: all species are reduced in number, and most are endangered.
• Gibbon
  Gibbon

  noun

  Edward, 1737–94, English historian.

gibbon

¹ American  

[gib-uhn] / ˈgɪb ən /

noun

1. any of the small arboreal apes of the East Indies and southern Asia that belong to the four genera of the family Hylobatidae (the lesser apes), displaying strong territorial behavior with vigorous vocalization and having wrists much like ball-and-socket joints: all species are reduced in number, and most are endangered.

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Gibbon ² American  

[gib-uhn] / ˈgɪb ən /

noun

1. Edward, 1737–94, English historian.

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Gibbon ¹ British  

/ ˈɡɪbən /

noun

1. Edward. 1737–94, English historian; author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–88), controversial in its historical criticism of Christianity

2. Lewis Grassic (ˈɡræsɪk), real name James Leslie Mitchell . 1901–35, Scottish writer: best known for his trilogy of novels Scots Quair (1932–34)

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gibbon ² British  

/ ˈɡɪbən /

noun

1. any small agile arboreal anthropoid ape of the genus Hylobates, inhabiting forests in S Asia

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Etymology

Origin of gibbon

First recorded in 1760–70; from French, used by Georges Buffon; further origin uncertain

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gibbon Gibbon

There has been a string of recent high-profile arrests, including a July raid that rescued a leaf monkey, a gibbon and hundreds of turtles, as well as multiple interceptions at airports.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

Above the patter of rain cascading through the jungle canopy comes the haunting call of a pileated gibbon singing to fend off intruders in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

The virus, according to a report in Nature, was first isolated in 1945 from a gibbon in Florida.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2025

Exact numbers of individuals are unknown, but Skywalkers were identified in areas previously thought to be occupied by the Eastern hoolock gibbon.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 14, 2024

One peculiar difference may be pointed out,—the walking gibbon stretches out its great long arms to the sides in order to preserve its balance.

From The Doctrine of Evolution Its Basis and Its Scope by Henry Edward Crampton

The thirst Gibbon described is timeless and unquenchable; his monumental history of the Roman Empire could hardly exist without it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

It was Edward Gibbon, the great historian of ancient Rome, who first observed that luxury goods constituted a “voluntary tax” that the rich paid to the people who produced those goods.

From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026

Home in the wild for the small Silvery Gibbon is the rainforests of Java in Indonesia.

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025

Mr Gibbon is accused of only stopping when two sisters who were holidaying next door said they had called the sheriff's office.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2025

Gibbon called a man to take the reins.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara