ape Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all
  2. noun someone who copies the words or behavior of another
    aper; copycat; imitator; emulator.
  3. noun person who resembles a nonhuman primate
    anthropoid.
  4. verb imitate uncritically and in every aspect
    • Her little brother apes her behavior
  5. verb represent in or produce a caricature of
    caricature.
    • The drawing caricatured the President

WordNet

Ape noun
Etymology
AS. apa; akin to D. aap, OHG. affo, G. affe, Icel. api, Sw. apa, Dan. abe, W. epa.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) A quadrumanous mammal, esp. of the family Simiadæ, having teeth of the same number and form as in man, having teeth of the same number and form as in man, and possessing neither a tail nor cheek pouches. The name is applied esp. to species of the genus Hylobates, and is sometimes used as a general term for all Quadrumana. The higher forms, the gorilla, chimpanzee, and ourang, are often called anthropoid apes or man apes. ✍ The ape of the Old Testament was prqobably the rhesus monkey of India, and allied forms.
  2. One who imitates servilely (in allusion to the manners of the ape); a mimic. Byron.
  3. A dupe. Obs. Chaucer.
Ape transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Aped; present participle & verbal noun Aping
Definitions
  1. To mimic, as an ape imitates human actions; to imitate or follow servilely or irrationally. "How he apes his sire." Addison.
    The people of England will not ape the fashions they have never tried. Burke.

Webster 1913