[ape] n [ME, fr. OE apa; akin to OHG affo ape] (bef. 12c) 1 a: monkey; esp: one of the larger tailless or short-tailed Old World forms b: any of two families (Pongidae and Hylobatidae) of large tailless semierect primates (as the chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, or gibbon)--called also anthropoid, anthropoid ape
2. a: mimic b: a large uncouth person -- ape.like adj
[2]ape vt aped ; ap.ing (1632): to copy closely but often clumsily and ineptly syn see copy -- ap.er n [3]ape adj (ca. 1955): being beyond restraint: crazy, wild--usu. used in the phrase go ape