apple

[ ap-uh l ]

/ ˈæp əl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR apple ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the usually round, red or yellow, edible fruit of a small tree, Malus sylvestris, of the rose family.

the tree, cultivated in most temperate regions.

the fruit of any of certain other species of tree of the same genus.

any of these trees.

any of various other similar fruits, or fruitlike products or plants, as the custard apple, love apple, May apple, or oak apple.

anything resembling an apple in size and shape, as a ball, especially a baseball.

Bowling. an ineffectively bowled ball.

Slang. a red capsule containing a barbiturate, especially secobarbital.

Nearby words

applanation tonometer, applanometry, applaud, applaudable, applause, apple, apple a day, apple bee, apple blight, apple blossom, apple box

Origin of apple

before 900; Middle English appel, Old English æppel; cognate with Old Frisian, Dutch appel, Old Saxon apl, appul, Old High German apful (German Apfel), Crimean Gothic apel < Germanic *aplu (akin to Old Norse epli < *apljan); Old Irish ubull (neuter), Welsh afal, Breton aval < pre-Celtic *ǫblu; Lithuanian óbuolas, -ỹs, Latvian âbuol(i)s (with reshaped suffix), OPruss woble, perhaps Thracian (din)upla, (sin)upyla wild pumpkin, OCS (j)ablŭko (representing *ablŭ-ko, neuter) < Balto-Slavic *āblu-. Cf. Avalon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for apple

Apple customers, on the other hand, are used to paying premium for perceived quality.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Apple, PetSmart, Wells Fargo, Marriott, and Delta also spoke out.
Corporations Are No Longer Silent on LGBT Issues||December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In “Cartoons and Cereal,” he sings, “Reminisce when I had the morning appetite/ Apple Jacks, had nothing that I hit the TV Guide.”
Cereal Cafe’s Big Bowl of Hate|David Levesley|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This week, in response to the report, Apple removed 30 of those groups from their music service.
White Supremacists on Spotify|Caitlin Dickson|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST

It is impossible to talk about Dr. Strange without mentioning soap, apple juice, and suicide.
The Flying Sorcery of Dr. Strange: Benedict Cumberbatch Is Marvel's Most Bizarre Magician|Rich Goldstein|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The apple orchard was a favorite haunt, and the Weeping Willows when the wind was from the right direction.
Chicken Little Jane on the Big John|Lily Munsell Ritchie
Excitement, too, had lent a warmer pink to her apple cheeks, and her blue eyes were like deep and hating stars.
McClure's Magazine, Vol. 31, No. 1, May 1908|Various
Ten little robins played the drums, which were tiny twigs from the apple tree.
Daddy's Bedtime Bird Stories|Mary Graham Bonner
Apple was the center of an excited crowd of scouts for there had been no sleep in camp that night.
The Boy Scout Treasure Hunters|Charles Henry Lerrigo
So Joel sprang off from the lower branch of the apple tree and went zip-tear-bang, at the paper ring.
The Adventures of Joel Pepper|Margaret Sidney

British Dictionary definitions for apple

apple

/ (ˈæpəl) /

noun

a rosaceous tree, Malus sieversii, native to Central Asia but widely cultivated in temperate regions in many varieties, having pink or white fragrant flowers and firm rounded edible fruitsSee also crab apple

the fruit of this tree, having red, yellow, or green skin and crisp whitish flesh

the wood of this tree

any of several unrelated trees that have fruits similar to the apple, such as the custard apple, sugar apple, and May appleSee also love apple, oak apple, thorn apple

apple of one's eye a person or thing that is very precious or much loved

bad apple or rotten apple a person with a corrupting influence

Word Origin for apple

Old English æppel; related to Old Saxon appel, Old Norse apall, Old High German apful

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with apple

apple

In addition to the idioms beginning with apple

apple a day
apple of one's eye
apple polisher
apples and oranges

also see:

polish the apple
rotten apple
upset the applecart

apple

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of apple

Examples from the Web for apple

British Dictionary definitions for apple

apple

noun

Word Origin for apple

Idioms and Phrases with apple

apple