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apple-pie bed

American  

noun

  1. a bed that has been short-sheeted as a joke.


apple-pie bed British  

noun

  1. a way of making a bed so as to prevent the person from entering it

"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

Etymology

Origin of apple-pie bed

First recorded in 1770–80

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.

See Examples For:

Pym knew whole States which are vast and yet secret and fanciful; each is as big as a nation yet as private as a lost village, and as unexpected as an apple-pie bed.

From Manalive by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)

"A booby trap," said H. O., "the first thing when they get up, and an apple-pie bed at night."

From The Wouldbegoods by Nesbit, E. (Edith)

It was no good her wishing her good wish, because she had been a bad girl the day before—making the Countess an apple-pie bed and all—disgraceful!

From Once on a Time by Robinson, Charles

"Was it the apple-pie bed, or the lost keys, or the water in the boot, or the clothes-line across the road?"

From The Terrible Twins by Jepson, Edgar

But you see, Anne, this perhaps has irritated them more than an apple-pie bed.

From I'll Leave It To You A Light Comedy In Three Acts by Coward, Noel

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