missing link
nounDefinition of missing link
1
: an absent member needed to complete a series or resolve a problem
2a
: a hypothetical intermediate evolutionary form between humans and their presumed simian progenitors
b
: a hypothetical intermediate evolutionary form between one animal species or group and its presumed ancestors
a missing link between reptiles and birds
Examples of missing link in a Sentence
Police are hopeful that the new evidence will provide the missing links needed to solve the crime.
scientists searching for the missing link
Recent Examples on the Web
Indeed, this fossil could be a missing link between animals with no segments, like simple worms, and arthropods, like insects and lobsters. — Elizabeth Pennisi, Science | AAAS, "Ancient wormlike animal caught in its tracks sheds light on early locomotion," 4 Sep. 2019 Barring any unexpected departures, Antonio Conte's side will not look for any new central defenders this summer, with Godin's arrival thought to be the missing link in the team. — SI.com, "Inter 'Reject Chance' to Sign Laurent Koscielny After Arsenal Star Is Offered to the Club," 4 June 2019 In their pursuit of the Scudetto, someone like him could be the missing link. — SI.com, "Mauro Icardi: The Contenders to Sign Him & Where He Might End Up," 21 Aug. 2019 The landers have been a bit of a missing link in the Trump administration’s vision of returning quickly to the moon. — Lee Roop | Lroop@al.com, al, "Alabama native ready to lead NASA back to the moon," 17 Aug. 2019 Last year's signings of Fabinho and Naby Keïta have offered an insight into what the makeup of their starting lineup could be next season, and Fernandes could be the missing link which takes them that one step closer to the Premier League title. — SI.com, "Bruno Fernandes: What He Would Bring to Each Premier League Top 6 Club," 11 June 2019 This missing link was the object of Wiles’ seven-year quest. — Quanta Magazine, "Why the Proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem Doesn’t Need to Be Enhanced," 3 June 2019 Smith would be the missing link on a team seeking its first title in 31 years. — John Shea, SFChronicle.com, "MLB second-half storylines: Giants could do Bumgarner a favor by trading him," 13 July 2019 Flight of the Archaeopteryx Two years after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, the discovery of a missing link between dinosaurs and birds gave evolutionary theory a fortuitous credibility boost. — Jonathon Keats, Discover Magazine, "The Origins of Flight, From Birds to Bugs to Planes," 21 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'missing link.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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