apple

American  

[ap-uhl] / ˈæp əl /

noun

• apples
  plural

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

2. the tree, cultivated in most temperate regions.

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

4. any of these trees.

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

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

7. Bowling. an ineffectively bowled ball.

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

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apple British  

/ ˈæpəl /

noun

1. 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 fruits See also crab apple

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

3. the wood of this tree

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

5. a person or thing that is very precious or much loved

6. a person with a corrupting influence

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apple Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing apple

• polish the apple
• rotten apple
• upset the applecart

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• apples
  plural

Etymology

Origin of apple

First recorded 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, from unattested Germanic aplu (akin to Old Norse epli, from unattested apljan ); Old Irish ubull (neuter), Welsh afal, Breton aval, from unrecorded pre-Celtic ǫblu; Lithuanian óbuolas, -ỹs, Latvian âbuol(i)s (with reshaped suffix), Old Prussian woble, perhaps Thracian (din)upla, (sin)upyla “wild pumpkin,” Old Church Slavonic (j)ablŭko (representing unrecorded ablŭ-ko, neuter), from unattested Balto-Slavic āblu-. Cf. Avalon

Explanation

An apple is a round fruit with red or green skin and a whitish inside. One variety of apple might be sweet, another sour. The apple isn't just a fruit. It's a symbol — from the apples eaten by Adam and Eve in the Biblical creation story, which symbolize the loss of innocent to the expression "American as apple pie" to mean something that is wholesome. The "apple of your eye" is the person who delights you — maybe you are the apple of your grandfather's eye. He might tell you, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," meaning the fruit is good for your health.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

apple apples

As part of the new proposals, packs would need to be plain with strict limits on branding and only simple flavour descriptions like "apple" or "cola" used.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

The total apple haul is forecast to drop 17.9 percent from last year's exceptionally large crop, and be down 5.4 percent compared to the average harvest over the past decade.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

Netflix is once again an apple in Bill Ackman’s eye, as the streamer was among six stocks Pershing Square added in the last six months.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The backyard includes tiger fig trees, apple trees, and other edible plantings surrounding a swimming pool designed for year-round Southern California living.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

He was just sitting there, as big as you please, with a sandwich in one paw, and an apple in the other, eating away and looking straight at me.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

Gravity is best known as the force that pulls objects toward Earth, but its role extends far beyond falling apples.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

"We would normally harvest 20-30 tonnes of apples here," he tells me, walking through one orchard.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

At his Orchard Park Farm, near Shepton Mallet, I see plenty of apples - both on the trees and on the ground.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Russians’ social media feeds filled up with videos of people biting into apples, lip-syncing to songs about apples and inking tattoos with the fruit that is the party’s symbol.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

Aunt Pretty told me that when she was growing up, the only dolls country girls had were made of rags, dried apples, or clothespins.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

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