apple of one's eye

American  

[ap-uhl uhv wuhnz ahy] / ˈæp əl əv wʌnz ˈaɪ /

noun

1. something or someone very precious or dear.

   His new baby girl was the apple of his eye.

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apple of one's eye Cultural  

1. The favorite object of a person's love or affection: “Linda was fond of all the horses on the ranch, but the little palomino was the apple of her eye.”

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apple of one's eye Idioms  

1. Special favorite, beloved person or thing, as in The youngest was the apple of his father's eye. This term, which rests on the ancients' idea that the eye's pupil is apple-shaped and that eyes are particularly precious, appears in the Bible (Deuteronomy 32:10). [Early 1600s]

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Etymology

Origin of apple of one's eye

First recorded before 900; Old English æppel “apple,” also used to translate Latin pupillam oculī “pupil of the eye” (Psalm 18:8 of the Vulgate), figuratively extended to something or someone precious

Example Sentences

It is necessary to be constantly vigilant, to protect, as the apple of one's eye, the armed forces and defensive power of our country.

From Time Magazine Archive