ape n.
1. a general pej., the implication being of stupidity and lumbering size; thus apishness n.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Miller’s Tale line 3389: Thus she maketh Absolon hir ape. | |
| A Merry Play in Farmer Dramatic Writings (1905) 83: Now, by my troth, it is a pretty jape, / For a wife to make her husband her ape. | |
| Jacke Juggler Di: There was neuer Ape so lyke unto Ape As he is to me. | |
| Martin-Marprelate Tractes in Works I (1883–4) 165: But as the Ape, the more sagelie you looke on him, the more he grinneth; and the foole, the more substantiallie you reason with him, the lesse he vnderstandeth. | |
| Mother Bombie II i: Weele bite thee for an ape if thou bob vs lyke asses. | |
| Gul’s Horne-Booke 26: In an Ordinary you shall find the variety of a whole kingdome in a few Apes of the kingdome. | |
| Fatal Dowry (1632) IV i: Let’s leaue the mad Ape. | |
 | Britain’s Remembrancer canto I 18: The scarlet-whore / Had with her charmed Cup of poisoned wine, / Transform’d them into Asses, Apes and swine. | |
| Covent Garden II ii: Thou art a Baboone of formality, and an ape of court-ship. | |
| Nights Search I 66: This lustful Ape, thinks he has got a prey. | |
| Age for Apes 192: In ev’ry Country shop wee have them full. For you must know the Country’s no such Ape But it can City-fashions imitate. | |
| Poor Robin’s Character of France 8: Then did he [...] thrust out his shoulders in such a ridiculous posture, that made my Worship to laugh heartily to see the Ape. | |
| Love in the Dark I i: The Apes of chattering Frenchmen, that boast Of every Ladies favour they once saw. | |
| A Character of London-Village 1: Where Fop and Flutter Each the Other Greets, Each Mimick Posture does an Ape present. | |
| Maggots 124: Your heroick Lines had rendred [sic] your Ape-ship more rediculous then an Ass. | |
| ‘The Crafty Country Woman’ in Bagford Ballads (1878) I 35: [of a woman] But in a short time after, / this simple foolish Ape / Arrested her Husband, / And then she swore a Rape. | |
| ‘Song’ in Pills to Purge Melancholy II 42: And when they have done, they all return again / Like so many Apes, each with his Golden Chain. | |
| Caleb Williams (1966) 157: With your apishness and absurdity however you have taught me one thing. | |
| Life in Paris 218: Am I obliged to turn puppy [...] to be fit to sit or dance with a company of apes and demireps? | |
| Mr Mathews’ Comic Annual 22: As to the stupid ape, her son Andrew, we can soon settle him. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Letter-bag of the Great Western (1873) 65: A colonial super-ultra-high-Tory, is of the genus blockhead, species ape. | |
| Paul Pry 29 Jan. 3/1: Paul Advises [...] J—n L—r, of Pentonville, not to be seen dancing about the street with a parcel of apes, as big, fat, and foolish as himself. | |
| Paul Pry (London) 15 Aug. n.p.: THE BRISTOL APE. [...] To be seen alive, a splendid specimen of the Ape. He has a small head, small eyes, and very little brains. This biped answers to thejjfiame of Jack SI— de, alias The Lushy Wheelwright. | |
| Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous 191: You wretched rebellious little Ape. | |
| letter 30 Jan. in H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 19: [on R.W. Emerson] A gap-toothed and hoary-headed ape, carried at first into notice on the shoulder of Carlyle, and who now in his dotage spits and chatters from a dirtier perch of his own finding and fouling. | |
| Salt Lake Trib. (UT) 5 Dec. 51/2: You little ape! | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 233: You flaming floundering fool! I’ll take my dying bible there isn’t a bigger bloody ape, do you know, than you in the whole flaming bloody world! | |
| Marvel 17 July 7: Will you get off that gangway, you calm-faced ape? | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Smith’s Wkly (Sydney) 11 Aug. 15/4: Presently we sights Em and the ape. They got two bottles of Oh My Dear. | |
| ‘Prison Mass’ Coll. Stories (1990) 155: The Kid’s mother is dying, you ape. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 40/4: ‘Supposin’ that ape of yours meets someone better than himself first crack out of the box and turns out to be a dud?’. | |
| ‘The Big Umbrella’ Runyon on Broadway (1954) 562: You can boff this big ape. | |
| We Were the Rats 80: Don’t take any notice of that ape. | |
| (con. 1900s) Drums Under the Windows 194: For one pin, you conceited, third-class ape, I’d knock you off the scaffold. | |
| Riverslake 26: Go on, get out of the kitchen, you bloody ape! | |
| Absolute Beginners 31: The poor old ape was such an H-Certificate product. | |
| Chips with Everything II x: Why do you want to pick on me, you lunatics, you bloody apes. | |
| Gonif 125: Ired, when the hell are you going to learn that you can’t let every ape get your goat? | |
| (con. c.1970) Short Timers (1985) 162: I’m ready to jump on your program, you fucking ape. | |
| College Sl. Dict. 🌐 apes [CMU] fraternity brothers. | |
| Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Ape. Derogatory term for another inmate. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | (con. 1920s) Legs 159: The big ape grabbed me by the shoulder [...] and growled, ‘You clumsy jerkoff, why don’t you look what you’re doing?’. | |
| Nature Girl 20: They sent some Mexican ape from Security to [...] hustle me out of the building. | |
| Viva La Madness 334: Fuck those bodyguards — paira apes ain’t getting shit. | |
| ‘Spill Site’ in ThugLit Sept./Oct. [ebook] Big Dan wondered why he bothered paying apes like Delacey. | |
| Old Scores [ebook] ‘Good job taking down Dragic. I always hated that ape’. |
2. (orig. US, also apeman) a derog. term for a black person.
| ‘Uncle Sam’s Peculiarities’ in Bentley’s Misc. 271: [addressing three negroes] D’ye think I’m going to turn my boat into a zoological institute, and have nothing but chattering scratching apes in her? | |
| Parsons Wkly Eclipse (KS) 25 Aug. 2/3: ‘Come heah, George Washington, you black ape,’ exclaimed Rev. Aminidab Bledso. | |
| ‘Designations for Colored Folk’ in AS XIX:3 174: The DAE does not list such vulgar synonyms for Negro as ape. | |
| (con. 1940s) Sowers of the Wind 109: ‘What can we use, Andy?’ ‘Use?’ ‘Yes — to do the black apes over with. There’s six of them!’. | |
| Scene (1996) 35: The ape who was sleeping with her [...] wouldn’t be one to let a mere hundred and seventeen dollars stand in the way of something this yellow bitch had her heart set on. | |
| Balloons in Black Bag 90: If the Major calls him darky, sooty, [...] boogie, ape, jassbo, jigaboo, eightball, seal, jungle bunny, skunk or Zulu to his face, we’re going to be short of a valuable new comedy act. | |
| Lang. of Ethnic Conflict 50: Animal Metaphors: ape [also baboon]. | |
| It (1987) 907: You nigger boogie night-fighter jungle-bunny apeman coon! | |
| Lex. of Cadet Lang. 13: ape a black; a negro. | |
| (T. Fontana) ‘Gray Matter’ Oz ser. 4 ep. 5 [TV script] You should have pulled those apes off me. | |
| (con. 1973) Johnny Porno 125: The flip side is the ape they got ploughing her. Some gorilla they found inna jungle someplace. |
3. a thug, a hoodlum.
| Home to Harlem 53: Zeddy, the ape, who was scared of no man in the place, became humble before the woman. | |
| High Sierra in Four Novels (1984) 288: ‘He reminds me of a cross between a farmer and a refined gorilla.’ [...] ‘Yeah [...] he’s a big ape all right.’. | |
| Halo in Blood (1988) 180: You’ve got an ape called Ownie, who packs a sap. | |
| Look Long Upon a Monkey 66: Not interested in the other apes, he told Stringy all that had to be said. | |
| Murder Me for Nickels (2004) 67: One, two, three lump-muscled apes jumped out. Then two more [...] all lump-muscled and goonish. | |
| Shaft 142: You two apes sitting in that saloon. | |
| Under Cover 217: She was looking forward to a great night: getting all gussied up to turn the ape on. | |
| Spidertown (1994) 91: Did’ju tell those apes you had eyeballin’ me t’ slash my tires? | |
| Crumple Zone 105: What an ape. Eyeing you up. I think you’re in there. | |
| Jimmy Bench-Press 48: He’s the ape at the table inside the corner window. |
4. (Aus.) £50; £500.
| Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. |
5. (S.Afr.) a white man.
![[SA]](/static/img/flags/sa.png "South Africa") | ‘Score Me the Ages’ Born in the RSA (1997) 136: lennie. It’s the ou in the white BM you must watch man – white BM trouble you. boykie. BM trouble-you hey ... what do you chune if he stops? [...] lennie. You pull up your zip and you fuck off man ... HEY! APIE! boykie. Jussis, hy lyk soos apie. |
In compounds
a fool; a general term of abuse.
| (con. 1940s) Do Not Go Gentle (1962) 140: Calm down, ape ass, he told himself. |
(US) an ugly, thuggish person.
| Freaky Friday 58: You know I love being called Ape Face. It’s a real neat nickname. | |
| Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In 15: The tough guys in felt hats come back with this ape-face who looks like Yul Brynner in a Santa Claus suit. |
(orig. US) high, extra-long motorcycle handlebars, favoured by outlaw riders such as Hell’s Angels.
| Pop. Science 186 162: ‘Ape-hanger’ handlebars qualify you to ride with the wild ones. | |
| New Yorker 11 Dec. 164: The swooping handlebars known among the motorcycle avant-garde as ape hangers. | |
| Chopper Mag. Feb. 28/1: Straightening the pre-1948 bars out and bringing them back makes nice monkey-hangers. | |
| East in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 70: I’m a Harley Davidson with ape-hangers. | |
| Different Seasons (1995) 192: Todd looked at it [...] holding the grips of his bike’s apehanger handlebars. | |
| (con. 1970s) King Suckerman (1998) 100: He clutched the ape-hanger handlebars in the crucifix position. | |
| Cycle World Jan. 66/2: The current setup—metalflake paint, apehangers, shotgun pipes, spool front hub, suicide clutch—seems like a keeper. | |
| I Just Wanna Ride 34: He rides a Fat Boy with ape hangers and loud pipes that would make Captain America proud. | |
| Razorblade Tears 190: [T]he ape hangers were bent in all the wrong places. |
(US) a fool, an idiot, thus adj. ape-headed, stupid.
| Reynolds’s Newspaper 24 July 1/1: This would not suit the plans of the ape-headed and tiger-hearted people. | |
| Hillyars and Burtons (1870) 314: Ha! One single face left in all the world, and all the rest chattering ape-heads. | |
| Reynolds’s Newspaper 24 July 1/4: The fat-sided, ape-headed boobies of princes whose laudation is a favourite topic. | |
| Anderson Intelligencer (Anderson Court Hse, SC) 28 Aug. 1/6: These ape-headed pullets which invent [...] foot fangels merely for fashion’s sake. | |
| Salt Lake Herald (UT) 13 Jan. 4/1: His words reflect the foul-mouthed ape-headed, rotten-hearted, moral, mental and social degenerate that he is. | |
| Bottom Dogs 145: Well, ole Moose [...] wasn’t as hot on running that ape-head up on the bid. |
(US) liquor.
| ‘More Tennessee Expressions’ in AS XVI:1 Feb. 446/2: ape oil. Liquor. ‘Salie’s man likes his ape oil.’. |
In phrases
(US) a derog. term for a black person.
| [ | | Son of Tarzan [ebook] Tarmangani, or great white ape, [...] described the white man [...] Gomangani—great black ape, or Negro—described none of them so they called themselves plain Mangani]. |
| (con. 1920s) Young Manhood in Studs Lonigan (1936) 213: For every white man killed in the riots, ten black apes ought to be massacred. | |
| Mr George’s Joint 337: Ah ain’t marry that black ape. Ah ain’t lak him. | |
| Walk on the Water 333: Black ape! That’s what she was! Black ape! [...] That Filipina last night. | |
| Sparhawk 191: I was in a very bad condition, what with that murdering black ape circling the table and ready to take my honor. | |
| Negro Digest June 62/2: Well, nigger means just one thing to the white man: a black ape with rheumatism in the joint. | |
| Modern Black Stories 5: Look at the black ape. That’s the worst of giving these Kaffirs enough rope. | |
| (ref. to 1952) Warning: Writer at Work 54: What was perhaps less normal was the number of persons who cried, ‘Kill that black ape,’ and other racist exhortations. | |
| (con. 1953) Hearts Echoes #3 173: Catherine [...] saw that a car driven by a Negro was tailgating. ‘I wish that black ape would stay back there. He’s way too close’. |
see under brush n.3
1. (Aus./US) a peasant.
| Elmtown’s Youth (1975) 81: The area below the canal [...] down by the garbage dump; where the river rats live; behind the tannery; the bush apes’ home; squatters’ paradise; where you’ll find the God-damned yellow hammers. | |
| (con. 1959) Up the Cross 126: Bush apes and bushrangers were there to have a go at picking the pockets of the bush baptists and bush lawyers. | |
| Slow Coming Dark 262: That yellow dog, ridge-running bush ape you married. |
2. (Aus.) a rural worker.
| Aus. Lang. 75: bush apes (rural or bush workers). |
3. (Aus.) an itinerant fruit-picker, usu. in Queensland.
| Aus. Lang. 75: bush apes ([...] fruit-pickers in South Australia). |
4. (Can./US) a logger.
| Brit. Columbia Lumberman 46 5: This concept of the ‘bush ape’ is kept alive by cartoonists, reporters and authors who either have no real knowledge of the ways of a logger. | |
| Town Meeting Forestry 69: The logger has too long been described as a ‘bush ape’. [...] Because of the ‘bush ape’ stigma attached to logging labor, there is little prestige in the job. | |
| Writing in the Rain 114: I’d seen a picture in The Glory Days of Logging of a toothless bush ape standing by a log dump. | |
| Lumberjacks 82: A ‘bush ape’ [...] could lose up to 50 pounds in a couple of months at such work until he was mostly bone and muscle. |
(US) a rough, thuggish man.
| Never Come Morning (1988) 66: Who’s that cliff-ape? | |
| Flight of the Intruder (2006) 192: Rucic would probably crucify him in the press, paint him as an insensitive cliff ape who didn’t care who he killed. | |
| Under Siege [ebook] I’ve taken all the insults I’m going to off that cliff- ape. |
(US black) an extremely unattractive and very dark-skinned person.
| ‘Story in Harlem Sl.’ in Novels and Stories (1995) 1009: Park ape: an ugly, underprivileged Negro. | |
| ‘Vernacular of the Jazz World’ in AS XXXII:4 277: park ape. An ugly, underprivileged Negro. | |
| High Cotton (1993) 26: A time [...] when blacks were wanted so desperately that any park ape who could manage long division was admitted. | |
| Life Lessons 39: The Atlanta news executive who watched Harry warn a hotel clerk who had lost his kids’ room reservations not to make him jump across the desk and act like a ‘park ape’. |
1. a derog. term for a black person.
| Evergreen Rev. 12 26: Bring me red wine you hairy assed Rock Ape or I drink it from your throat! | |
| Bulletin 17 June 4: The good relationships which these expatriates develop is too often counteracted by the Territorian [of P.N.G.] who refers to his workers as ‘rock apes’ or ‘kanakas’. | |
| Australian 5 Feb. Mag. 1: ‘Coons, spiks, boongs, rock-apes, sunshines, I can’t stand them,’ he said. ‘Namatjira’s in the right place, six feet under.’ [GAW4]. | |
| Aus. Associated Press 23 June 🌐 A country doctor who was ordered to pay $4,000 in damages after calling an Aboriginal man who attended his surgery a ‘rock ape’ may be struck off the medical register. | |
| Blackfellas, Whitefellas, and the Hidden Injuries of Race 70: The day after the Riot and he saw ‘rock ape’ written down beside his name as an alias on his charge sheet. |
2. anyone viewed with disfavour, e.g. a teenager.
| European 61-6 189: You rock ape, one of them always said, if I missed a trick. | |
| Walking the Dog 217: Who’s walking you home, not those rockapes, I trust? [GAW4]. | |
| Age (Melbourne) 24 Apr. Life 3: Rock ape / rocky / knuckle dragger: A stupid crook [GAW4]. |