ape

American  

[eyp] / eɪp /

noun

1. Anthropology, Zoology. any member of the superfamily Hominoidea, the two extant branches of which are the lesser apes (gibbons) and the great apes (humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans).

2. (loosely) any primate except humans.

3. an imitator; mimic.

4. Informal. a big, ugly, clumsy person.

5. Disparaging and Offensive. (used as a slur against a member of a racial or ethnic minority group, especially a Black person.)

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verb (used with object)

aped, aping

1. to imitate; mimic.

   to ape another's style of writing.

adjective

1. Slang. (usually in the phrasego ape )

   1. violently emotional.

      When she threatened to leave him, he went ape.

   2. extremely enthusiastic (often followed by over orfor ).

      They go ape over old rock music.

      We were all ape for the new movie trailer.

ape British  

/ eɪp /

noun

1. any of various primates, esp those of the family Pongidae , in which the tail is very short or absent See anthropoid ape See also great ape

2. (not in technical use) any monkey

3. an imitator; mimic

4. informal a coarse, clumsy, or rude person

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verb

1. (tr) to imitate

Sensitive Note

See simianization.

Other Word Forms

• apelike adjective

Etymology

Origin of ape

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English apa; cognate with Old Saxon apo, Old Norse api, Old High German affo ( German Affe ); further origin uncertain

Example Sentences

Although Sahelanthropus had shorter legs than modern humans, its limb proportions differed from those of apes and more closely resembled Australopithecus.

From Science Daily

I stood up to shake off the pain and tweaked my right Achilles tendon, so I headed for the medicine cabinet, bent over like an ape because of a stiff back.

From Los Angeles Times

British animal rights campaigner and primatologist Dr Jane Goodall devoted her life to the study and conservation of chimpanzees and the other great apes.

From BBC

She tosses carrots, celery and other fibrous treats like cucumbers on top of the branches and leaves that are reminiscent of the apes’ West Central Africa rainforest habitat.

From Los Angeles Times

Their absence has fuelled speculation as to whether the great apes were swept away by floods and landslides.

From BBC

Related Words

• emulate
• imitate