View synonyms for missing link

missing link

[ mis-ing lingk ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a hypothetical form of animal assumed to have constituted a connecting link between the anthropoid apes and humans, identified by some authorities as constituting the genus Australopithecus.
something lacking for the completion of a series or sequence:
It’s tricky to find the missing link between children’s books and adult fiction.

missing link

the missing link
the missing link sometimes capitals a hypothetical extinct animal or animal group, formerly thought to be intermediate between the anthropoid apes and man
any missing section or part in an otherwise complete series

missing link

A supposed animal midway in evolution between apes and humans. The term is based on a misunderstanding about the theory of evolution, which does not state that humans are descended from apes, but rather maintains that both humans and apes descended from a common ancestor. Modern evolutionary scientists do not search for a “missing link.”

First recorded in 1850–55

MIT Professor Eric Alm thinks that sewers are the missing link to tracking public health.

For Hockney to have the missing link presented to him there in his atelier was a real thrill for him.

He sees fatherhood as the missing link, the key to full happiness.

The exhibit was intended as an example of the "missing link" between the orangutan and white man.

Who knew that Anna Maria Alberghetti was the missing link in your life?

"The missing link," added the nephew, with the joyous certainty of one about to negotiate a loan.

Haeckel admits that the belief that this is the missing link is strongly combatted by some distinguished scientists.

Mother seems to be the missing link that connects me with Pittsburg and everything else.

There is no missing link to the chain that connects the first and lowest life to the last and the highest.

The expression, "the missing link," is nowhere used by Darwin—that was a creation of one of his critics.

April 25, 2024firkin

[fur-kin ]

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