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applesauce

[ap-uh l-saws]
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noun
  1. apples stewed to a soft pulp and sometimes sweetened or spiced with cinnamon.
  2. Slang. nonsense; bunk.
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Origin of applesauce

First recorded in 1730–40; apple + sauce
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for apple sauce

apple sauce

noun
  1. a purée of stewed apples often served with pork
  2. US and Canadian old-fashioned, slang nonsense; rubbish
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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

Word Origin and History for apple sauce

applesauce

n.

by 1739, American English, from apple + sauce. Slang meaning "nonsense" is attested from 1921 and was noted as a vogue word early 1920s. Mencken credits it to cartoonist T.A. ("Tad") Dorgan. DAS suggests the word was thus used because applesauce was cheap fare served in boardinghouses.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper