gorilla

«gorilla» in Mova's school dictionary: the largest kind of ape, a very strong, mostly gentle… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a gorilla, gorillas)

meaning for a pupil

1) A gorilla is the largest kind of ape, a very strong, mostly gentle animal with dark fur that lives in the forests of central Africa. tree →

2) Informally, a gorilla can mean a big, rough, frightening man (not kind to say). tree →

sense in the lessons

In science gorillas appear in lessons about apes, primates, habitats, food chains and endangered animals: they eat mostly plants, live in family groups led by a big male called a silverback, and are protected because they are endangered. In stories they can stand for great strength. Phrases: «mountain gorilla», «silverback gorilla», «gorilla family».

examples

• The gorilla sat quietly eating leaves. tree →
• A male gorilla can weigh more than two grown men. tree →
• We watched the gorillas at the zoo. tree →
• Gorillas beat their chests to show strength or to warn others. tree →
• Mountain gorillas are endangered and need protection. tree →
• The baby gorilla clung to its mother's back. tree →
• Gorillas are apes, not monkeys, because they have no tail. tree →
• People who hunt gorillas are breaking the law. tree →
• The Judge was a Monkey, a large Gorilla venerable with age. tree →

note

Countable: «a gorilla», «gorillas». Homophone trap: «guerrilla» (a fighter in a small army) sounds the same. Gorillas are apes, not monkeys. Myth: gorillas are not usually aggressive; they mostly avoid trouble.

In the corpora

• In the 1933 film King Kong the giant gorilla was a small model moved by hand a tiny bit at a time.
• Gorillas and chimps walk on all fours leaning on their knuckles, while orangutans walk on their fists or the sides of their hands.
• A long, hard stare can be a challenge in gorilla language, so keepers ask visitors not to stare at the gorillas.
• Gorillas and other great apes build a new nest of leaves and branches every night, or of straw in a zoo.
• Scattering food in the grass makes gorillas walk and search, which is called foraging, and keeps them busy for longer.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «gorilla» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.