ape

[ eyp ]

/ eɪp /

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See synonyms for: ape / aped / apes / aping on Thesaurus.com

noun

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).See also catarrhine.

(loosely) any primate except humans.

an imitator; mimic.

Informal. a big, ugly, clumsy person.

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

verb (used with object), aped, ap·ing.

to imitate; mimic: to ape another's style of writing.

adjective

Slang. (usually in the phrase go ape)

violently emotional: When she threatened to leave him, he went ape.
extremely enthusiastic (often followed by over or for): They go ape over old rock music.We were all ape for the new movie trailer.

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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

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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

usage note for ape

See simianization.

OTHER WORDS FROM ape

ape·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use ape in a sentence

There are times when you seem, to us, like apes loose in a museum, carrying knives, slashing the canvases, breaking the statues with hammers.
‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is a bestseller, but its author, Walter Tevis, was hardly a one-hit wonder|Michael Dirda|February 3, 2021|Washington Post
I had always thought it was fascinating how apes could communicate with humans at all, but I didn’t do my proper due diligence.
Solution to Evan Birnholz’s Jan. 31 Post Magazine crossword, “That Makes No Sense”|Evan Birnholz|January 31, 2021|Washington Post
There are a lot of reasons why this happened, but a smaller reason is because hearing people actively promoted the idea that deaf people looked like monkeys or apes by using their hands to communicate.
Solution to Evan Birnholz’s Jan. 31 Post Magazine crossword, “That Makes No Sense”|Evan Birnholz|January 31, 2021|Washington Post
Next, Kutinsky wants to study how genes are linked to heart disease in some families of great apes.
When physicians and veterinarians team up, all species benefit|Liz Devitt|November 5, 2020|Science News For Students

The first ape heart that Kutinsky imaged belonged to a gorilla named Kondu.
When physicians and veterinarians team up, all species benefit|Liz Devitt|November 5, 2020|Science News For Students
Anatomically we find that we must place man with the apelike mammals, because of these numerous points of structural likeness.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
A long apelike arm came out and caught me by the coat lapels.
Highways in Hiding|George Oliver Smith
The sinister bead eyes, with brown splotches in their whites, were set wide apart and gleamed apelike under his scant brows.
The Clansman|Thomas Dixon
He found the apelike bodyguard stretched out on a bunk, a vacant smile on his face.
Police Your Planet|Lester del Rey
The apelike Pascual, his face a study in curiosity, drew alongside.
The Wolf Cub|Patrick Casey

British Dictionary definitions for ape

ape

/ (eɪp) /

noun

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

(not in technical use) any monkey

an imitator; mimic

US informal a coarse, clumsy, or rude person

verb

(tr) to imitate

Derived forms of ape

apelike, adjective

Word Origin for ape

Old English apa; related to Old Saxon ape, Old Norse api, Old High German affo

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012