Word.ws English Dictionary

goes ape

goes ape is the third-person singular simple present indicative of go ape.

Meaning of go ape

Verb

go ape (third-person singular simple present goes ape, present participle going ape, simple past went ape, past participle gone ape)

  1. (slang) To become wildly excited or enthusiastic.
  2. (slang) To 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

Questions about goes ape

What is goes ape the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Goes ape is the third-person singular simple present indicative of go ape.

Words near goes ape in the dictionary

  1. goes along for the ride
  2. goes along to get along
  3. goes along with
  4. goes along with the gag
  5. goes amiss
  6. goes ape
  7. goes apeshit
  8. goes around
  9. goes around in circles
  10. goes around the houses
  11. goes around with

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: goes ape (page history and authors); go ape (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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