Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A large anthropoid ape of Borneo, Simia (or Pithecus) wurmbi, not known to be distinct from the ordinary orang-utan, Simia satyrus.
  • noun The larger flying phalanger of Australia, belonging in the genus Petauroides.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) Any large ape; especially, the chimpanzee and the orang-outang.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun slang a low ranking soldier
  • noun archaic Any large ape, especially a chimpanzee or orangutan.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun type genus of the family Pongidae: orangutans

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Kongo mpongo ("gorilla")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pongo.

Examples

  • "His love of amusing underpants and quick wit ensured never a dull moment for anybody in the Troop, and ensured he kept me constantly on my toes at all times, never letting me forget that I was a 'pongo'.

    WalesOnline - Home 2009

  • Modificando un poco este post de Indexed pongo dos formas en que estos dos factores se relacionan.

    Deadlines! 2009

  • Me ha llamado la atención la imagen que pongo aquí arriba, que segun dicen es publicidad de una ...

    ADVERTISING WITH OBAMA » Sociological Images 2009

  • My housemate thought: I have beef for you juju pongo on

    Dear Clusterflock | clusterflock 2008

  • Could you imagine an encamped pongo eating Tuna Paella?

    British Gourmet Soldiers 2008

  • Es una regla fija: me pongo ojotas y traigo una bolsa de papel (para el táper o para los libros que chango de acá para allá) y llueve.

    veruscio Diary Entry veruscio 2008

  • Although each believed that the other was about to kill her with xifula, neither doubted the necessity of making pongo (noise) to defend her right to the tiny piece of land.

    Where Women Make History: Gendered Tellings of Community and Change in Magude, Mozambique 2005

  • Diamond's The Third Chimpanzee referring to humans, the other two being the pongo and bonobo chimnps is also supposed to be very good, though it was Guns, Germs, and Steel that was his break-out.

    polder 2006

  • Mujer mi nina, mi nina mujer, mujer mi nina mujer amor a primera vista amor de primera vez mujer nina, mi nina mujer, mujer nina mi nina mujer amor con toda el alma amor con todo el alma Linda es tu sencillez tu honradez y honestidad por ello pongo mi vida a tus pies*

    fairytears Diary Entry fairytears 2004

  • The first is the “Impungu” (or pongo?), which walks upright, and is from seven to nine feet high.

    Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo 2003

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Name of future pet pug.

    February 7, 2007

  • type genus of the family Pongidae, in other words, a large orange orangutang; the long limbed simian of Sumatra.

    February 7, 2007

  • I approve of this name.

    February 7, 2007

  • I love this name too. It reminds me of the daddy dog in the book 101 Dalmatians. But... I found this usage--had no idea it was a type of orangutan!

    "'They are charming animals, from what I have heard and what little I have seen: gentle, deliberate, with nothing whatsoever of the baboon, the mandril, or even the pongo, let alone the restless petulant wantonness of monkeys in the general sense...'"

    --Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen Gun Salute, 191

    March 4, 2008