ape

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

ape, n. [AS. apa; akin to D. aap, OHG. affo, G. affe, Icel. api, Sw. apa, Dan. abe, W. epa.].

•  A quadrumanous mammal, esp. of the family Simiadæ, 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.  [1913 Webster]

  " The ape of the Old Testament was probably the rhesus monkey of India, and allied forms."  [1913 Webster]
•  One who imitates servilely (in allusion to the manners of the ape); a mimic.  Byron.  [1913 Webster]
•  A dupe.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

ape, v. t. 

 To mimic, as an ape imitates human actions; to imitate or follow servilely or irrationally.  Addison.  [1913 Webster]
"The people of England will not ape the fashions they have never tried."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

ape, n. & v.
--n.
1 any of the various primates of the family Pongidae characterized by the absence of a tail, e.g. the gorilla, chimpanzee, orang-utan, or gibbon.
2 (in general use) any monkey.
3 a an imitator. b an apelike person.
--v.tr. imitate, mimic.

Idiom

ape-man (pl. -men) any of various apelike primates held to be forerunners of present-day man. go ape sl. become crazy. naked ape present-day man.

Etymology

OE apa f. Gmc

THESAURUS

ape

Barbary ape, Cape polecat, Chiroptera, Lagomorpha, Primates, Rodentia, act, act a part, act as, act out, angwantibo, anthropoid ape, ape about, appear like, approach, approximate, aye-aye, baboon, bar, be like, be redolent of, bear, bear resemblance, bring to mind, bugs on, burlesque, call to mind, call up, capuchin, caricature, cavy, chacma, chimp, chimpanzee, come close, come near, compare with, conformist, coon, copier, copy, copycat, copyist, correspond, counterfeit, counterfeiter, cracked on, crazy about, cuckoo, dissembler, dissimulator, do, drill, echo, echoer, echoist, emulate, enact, entellus, evoke, faker, favor, ferret, follow, forger, foumart, freaked-out, gaga over, gibbon, glutton, gone on, gorilla, groundhog, guenon, guereza, guinea pig, hanuman, hedgehog, hepped up over, hipped on, hit off, hit off on, hot about, hypocrite, imitate, imitator, impersonate, impersonator, impostor, langur, lemur, look like, macaque, mad about, make like, man, mandrill, marmoset, masquerade as, match, mime, mimer, mimic, mimicker, mirror, mock, mocker, mockingbird, monk, monkey, mountain gorilla, mousehound, near, nearly reproduce, not tell apart, nuts about, nuts on, opossum, orang, orangutan, pantomime, parallel, parody, parrot, partake of, pass for, perform, personate, phony, plagiarist, play, play a part, polecat, poll-parrot, polly, polly-parrot, porcupine, pose as, poseur, possum, prairie dog, pretend to be, proboscis monkey, quill pig, raccoon, remind one of, resemble, rhesus, rival, saki, savor of, seem like, sheep, simulate, simulator, skunk, smack of, sound like, stack up with, starry-eyed over, steamed up about, suggest, take after, take off, take off on, travesty, turned-on, weasel, whistle-pig, wild about, wolverine, woodchuck, zoril

ROGET THESAURUS

ape

Imitation

N imitation, copying, transcription, repetition, duplication, reduplication, quotation, reproduction, mimeograph, xerox, facsimile, reprint, offprint, mockery, mimicry, simulation, impersonation, personation, representation, semblance, copy, assimilation, paraphrase, parody, take-off, lampoon, caricature, plagiarism, forgery, counterfeit, celluloid, imitator, echo, cuckoo, parrot, ape, monkey, mocking bird, mime, copyist, copycat, plagiarist, pirate, imitated, mock, mimic, modelled after, molded on, paraphrastic, literal, imitative, secondhand, imitable, aping, apish, mimicking, literally, to the letter, verbatim, literatim, sic, totidem verbis, word for word, mot a mot, exactly, precisely, like master like man, like - but oh! how different!, genius borrows nobly, pursuing echoes calling 'mong the rocks, quotation confesses inferiority, Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

VB imitate, copy, mirror, reflect, reproduce, repeat, do like, echo, reecho, catch, transcribe, match, parallel, mock, take off, mimic, ape, simulate, impersonate, personate, act, represent, counterfeit, parody, travesty, caricature, lampoon, burlesque, follow in the steps of, tread in the steps, follow in the footsteps of, follow in the wake of, take pattern by, follow suit, follow the example of, walk in the shoes of, take a leaf out of another's book, strike in with, follow suit, take after, model after, emulate.