apple a day

Idioms

A small preventive treatment wards off serious problems, as in He exercises regularly—an apple a day is his motto. This idiom shortens the proverb An apple a day keeps the doctor away, first cited about 1630.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This simple at-home treatment is as commonplace as an apple a day.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 25, 2025

But whoever said an apple a day keeps the doctor away was lying.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2024

We've all heard that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but how true is that?

From Salon • Aug. 10, 2023

Researchers did find that apple eaters were a bit less likely to require prescription medications compared to non-apple-eaters, leading the researcher to joke that “an apple a day keeps the pharmacist away.”

From Washington Post • Oct. 11, 2019

Many of the arguments are at the level of �An apple a day keeps the docter away� - superficially convincing but nonsense at a quick closer look.

From Definition & Reality in the General Theory of Political Economy by Colignatus, Thomas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023