Meanings
verbgo ape (third-person singular simple present goes ape, present participle going ape, simple past went ape, past participle gone ape)
present singular third person goes ape · participle present going ape · past went ape · participle past gone ape
- slangTo become wildly excited or enthusiastic.
- slangTo become very angry.
"Forgot to tell you. Some reporter found out we had a Russkie up here and tried to bluff his way onto the floor. A nurse stopped him. Admiral Blackburn found out and went ape. The whole floor's sealed off. What's the big secret, anyway?"
1984, Tom Clancy, “The Eleventh Day: Monday, 13 December”, in The Hunt for Red October, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, →ISBN, page 267
Synonyms & antonyms
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Cite this entry
APA
go ape. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20ape
MLA
“go ape.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20ape. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “go ape,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20ape.
Source: go ape on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.