Dictionary entry

Ape (2)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Ape, v. t. [imp. & p. p.Aped; p. pr. & vb. n.Aping.] 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.