From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishapeape1 /eɪp/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 HBAan animal that is similar to a monkey but has no tail or only a very short tail2 → go ape
Examples from the Corpus
ape• Something about apes or monkeys too.• Monkeys and apes are the only mammals with good color vision.• Though his eyes were weakening by the moment, his gaze was still more acute than that of the blossoming ape.• The directors and actors had spent months in zoos recording the noises made by apes in emotional situations.• Yet almost nothing is known about the brain organization underlying language in such apes.• Female exogamy means that apes are largely devoid of mechanisms for females to build coalitions of relatives.• Or at least, language of the beyond the apes variety?• The apes provide us with much information concerning possible roots of sociable behaviour in man.apeape2 verb [transitive] 1 to copy the way someone speaks or behaves in order to make fun of them SYN mimic He could ape his teachers perfectly.2 IMITATEto copy someone’s way of doing something, so that what you do or produce is not good or original SYN mimic cheap clothes which ape the high fashions of the day→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
ape• She pushed her doll closer, so that Mrs Fanning aped a surprised, cross-eyed look.• Burton had no middle-class expectations, and certainly no desire to ape aristocratic ways he was not heir to.• His music attempts to ape classical styles, but the results are not very original.• California wine makers are trying to do new things with sauvignon blanc instead of just aping French styles.• As an alternative to aping Hollywood, it could be seen as a useful model for the development of indigenous cinema.• That probably accounts for some of the scepticism after the decision to ape stock market precedent and end business barriers between underwriters.• But I know better than to interrupt the hero with my babblings; instead I ape the satisfied cadaver.• Tearback tabs represent a lovely example of industrial design aping the very best of human innovation.• Recently the Bangalorean software industry has been aping what happened in Manhattanmoving some offices into the center of the city.Origin ape1 Old English apa 