Barbary ape


noun

a tailless macaque, Macaca sylvanus, of mountain ranges in northwestern Africa, now greatly reduced in number: a small, managed colony of unknown origin is maintained on the Rock of Gibraltar.

Origin of Barbary ape

First recorded in 1870–75

British Dictionary definitions for barbary ape

Barbary ape

noun

a tailless macaque, Macaca sylvana, that inhabits rocky cliffs and forests in NW Africa and Gibraltar: family Cercopithecidae, order Primates