as in thugs
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
the loan shark sent a couple of gorillas to "convince" him to pay up
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Recent Examples of gorillas
This makes the country the only place in East Africa in which to see gorillas (in Volcanoes NP), chimpanzees (in Nyungwe NP), and lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and white and black rhino, alongside plains game and over 550 species of birds (in Akagera NP).
—
Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2026
New Gorillas, New Dynamics Little Joe may be leaving, but Franklin Park Zoo isn’t saying goodbye to gorillas.
—Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 22 Apr. 2026
Two young gorillas are set to arrive this spring.
—Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 22 Apr. 2026
As part of the breeding program, he will be replaced by two young gorillas in the spring.
—Neal Riley, CBS News, 21 Apr. 2026
The park’s gorillas have faced some dramatic changes over the past couple of years.
—Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2026
These days, Fatou lives in an enclosure of her own and prefers to keep her distance from the zoo’s other gorillas in her old age.
—ABC News, 13 Apr. 2026
At 69, Fatou has lived far beyond what most gorillas experience.
—Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 13 Apr. 2026
Brookfield Zoo has relocated its gorillas to prepare them for their new $66 million habitat opening this summer.
—Carrie Shepherd, Axios, 31 Mar. 2025
Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2026
New Gorillas, New Dynamics Little Joe may be leaving, but Franklin Park Zoo isn’t saying goodbye to gorillas.
—Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 22 Apr. 2026
Two young gorillas are set to arrive this spring.
—Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 22 Apr. 2026
As part of the breeding program, he will be replaced by two young gorillas in the spring.
—Neal Riley, CBS News, 21 Apr. 2026
The park’s gorillas have faced some dramatic changes over the past couple of years.
—Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2026
These days, Fatou lives in an enclosure of her own and prefers to keep her distance from the zoo’s other gorillas in her old age.
—ABC News, 13 Apr. 2026
At 69, Fatou has lived far beyond what most gorillas experience.
—Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 13 Apr. 2026
Brookfield Zoo has relocated its gorillas to prepare them for their new $66 million habitat opening this summer.
—Carrie Shepherd, Axios, 31 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gorillas
Noun
-
He’s beaten by thugs with a crowbar for an unfortunate outburst, exploited by neighbors in the council estate and arrested, all because people don’t understand Tourette syndrome.—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Mayor vows to catch 'thugs who did this' Baton Rouge Mayor Sid Edwards promised that law enforcement will catch the people responsible for the violence at the mall.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Many of the toughest criminals taken into ICE custody were already in prison, but many others who were arrested have no criminal history.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
25 Apr. 2026
-
In the furthest part of space lies Dante 01, a detention facility that houses criminals who have committed the most shocking crimes imaginable.—
Sergio Pereira,
Space.com,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
One person in Atlanta has appeared in his videos as Batman villains, for free, dressed in homemade costumes that look like they were ripped straight from the television or movies.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Her character joined several others who faced the wrath of Homelander and other villains.—
Staff Author,
PEOPLE,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Theater owners cut prices and dispensed prizes to ticket buyers as the gangsters effectively cross-pollinated with the studio dance numbers.—
Peter Bart,
Deadline,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Violent gangsters ran fentanyl and human smuggling over the Rio Grande.—
Ioan Grillo,
Time,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The movie is understood to follow a sheriff and a doctor who seek revenge against a group of bandits who use the cover of a torrential thunderstorm to rob and terrorize the occupants of a small town.—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
24 Apr. 2026
-
On Derby Day in 1923, four masked bandits raided the hotel poker room, escaping into the crowds with what would now amount to a small fortune.—
Hillary Richard,
Robb Report,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Puntland official said nine pirates boarded and took control of the vessel.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
States that refused to negotiate or did not meet the obligations of the agreements are often branded as pirates and accused of supporting counterfeiting and theft.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
No wonder all these characters wanted to become assassins, Scott implies; they’re removed from reality by so many orders of magnitude that living, breathing fellow humans are just blurry images.—
Theater Critic,
San Francisco Chronicle,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Mirrors were such a precious commodity in the heyday of the Venetian Republic that the assassins were dispatched to, well, dispatch any defectors who left La Serenissima and tried to take the secrets of creating that mesmerizing, reflective surface along with them.—
Mark Ellwood,
Robb Report,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Court records show Abugharbieh entered into a diversion program for first-time offenders charged with misdemeanors.—
Holly Ramer,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Court records show Abugharbeih entered into a diversion program for first-time offenders charged with misdemeanors.—
Claudia Lauer,
Sun Sentinel,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gorillas.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gorillas. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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