go ape

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

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.
   • 1984, Tom Clancy, “The Eleventh Day: Monday, 13 December”, in The Hunt for Red October, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, →ISBN, page 267:

     "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?"

Synonyms

• (vulgar) go apeshit
• go bananas