missing link

noun

1

: an absent member needed to complete a series or resolve a problem

2

a

: 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

The cell atlas aims to fill in a missing link between genes, diseases and treatment therapies. —Katie Hunt, CNN, 21 Nov. 2024

The missing link Pig-butchering scams rely on a formula. —Kim Komando, Fox News, 22 Oct. 2024

Nearly 50 years later, 3 Women still beckons adventurous interpreters, like the missing link between Bergman’s Persona and Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. —A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 19 July 2024

But there’s one missing link Aug. 8, 2024 By the 1990s, as the older stadiums’ decades-long leases came up, those tenants wanted out, and in the process, ushered in a new era of single-team stadium construction —-- bespoke buildings of brick or steel, designed with just one team in mind. —Andrew Greif, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1851, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

missing link

noun

: a form of animal believed to have existed that shares characteristics with one animal group and the ancestors from which the group is thought to have evolved but has not been discovered in the fossil record

find the missing link between humans and apes