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siamang

[see-uh-mang]
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noun
  1. a large, black gibbon, Hylobates syndactylus, of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, having very long arms and the second and third digits partially united by a web of skin: an endangered species.
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Origin of siamang

Borrowed into English from Malay around 1815–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for siamang

Historical Examples

  • They pulled with all their might; and Lanark, the cockswain, steered her for the siamang.

    Four Young Explorers

    Oliver Optic

  • It is clear that in the first place we may distinguish the Siamang, H. syndactylus, which indeed some regard as a separate genus.

  • The largest is the jet black, Sumatran "siamang," three feet tall.

  • "Ay, it is a Siamang ape—next in size to the orang-utan," said Van der Kemp, who stood at his friend's elbow.

    Blown to Bits

    Robert Michael Ballantyne

  • The siamang differs from the other species of long-armed apes in the formation of its feet and in several other characteristics.

British Dictionary definitions for siamang

siamang

noun
  1. a large black gibbon, Hylobates (or Symphalangus) syndactylus, of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, having a large reddish-brown vocal sac beneath the chin and the second and third toes united
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Word Origin

C19: from Malay
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