missing link

[mis-ing lingk]

noun

1. a hypothetical form of animal assumed to have constituted a connecting link between the anthropoid apes and humans, identified by some authorities as constituting the genus Australopithecus.

2. something lacking for the completion of a series or sequence.

   It’s tricky to find the missing link between children’s books and adult fiction.

missing link

noun

1. (sometimes capitals) a hypothetical extinct animal or animal group, formerly thought to be intermediate between the anthropoid apes and man

2. any missing section or part in an otherwise complete series

missing link

1. A supposed animal midway in evolution between apes and humans. The term is based on a misunderstanding about the theory of evolution, which does not state that humans are descended from apes, but rather maintains that both humans and apes descended from a common ancestor. Modern evolutionary scientists do not search for a “missing link.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of missing link¹

First recorded in 1850–55