Definition of "silverback"

silverback

noun
plural silverbacks
1. (mammalogy) A mature male gorilla, so named from the silver streaking on its back.
2. (informal, by extension) A dominant older human male.
  Quotations
  Courageously (given Ranger's status in Mugabe's Zimbabwe, and his status as a silverback in North Atlantic Academe), Kriger dissents from their arguments.
  2001, Peter Burke, New Perspectives on Historical Writing, page 145
  "Have you met Professor Dolan, Bishop Blackie?" an Asian child with a beatifically innocent face asked me. "Is he that skinny silverback ape down on the first floor?"
  2003, Andrew W. Greeley, The Bishop goes to the University, page 121
  "That's peanuts. I'm talking about real money," replied [Senator] Ted [Kennedy], who in fact had no idea how much the developer would pay, as that detail had yet to be worked out. / "What are your other main reasons?" Liedell asked, persisting with the old silverback.
  2008, Wendy Williams, Robert Whitcomb, Cape Wind: Celebrity, Energy, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future, page 127
3. Any of various ferns of the genus Pityrogramma.