apple
Americannoun
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the usually round, red or yellow, edible fruit of a small tree, Malus sylvestris, of the rose family.
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the tree, cultivated in most temperate regions.
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the fruit of any of certain other species of tree of the same genus.
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any of these trees.
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any of various other similar fruits, or fruitlike products or plants, as the custard apple, love apple, May apple, or oak apple.
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Informal. anything resembling an apple in size and shape, as a ball, especially a baseball.
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Bowling. an ineffectively bowled ball.
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Slang. a red capsule containing a barbiturate, especially secobarbital.
noun
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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
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the fruit of this tree, having red, yellow, or green skin and crisp whitish flesh
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the wood of this tree
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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
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a person or thing that is very precious or much loved
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a person with a corrupting influence
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing apple
Non-Color Words to Use When Describing Color
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Green
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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:
While we’re all familiar with certain all-American fare—hot dogs, hamburgers, apple pie, barbecue—there are of course many lesser-known dishes that have come to define the nation and its dining habits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
In other words, cults are as American as McDonald’s apple pie.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026
They ask for tuba compuesta, or “composed,” with muddled red berries and diced apple, giving it an inviting pinkish color.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
The atemoya, a hybrid of different custard apple species with creamy white flesh encased in a rough green exterior, is a specialty of Taiwan's Taitung county.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Without warning, Bork took a bite of the apple.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Faizi said that the village, which once produced only apples and walnuts, now has cherry, pear, and peach trees, among others.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
When Raspados Nayarit serves its tuba compuesta — vibrant pink, chilled and topped with diced apples and peanuts — it is a reminder of home for Colimenses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Every week or so, I stock up on a “bunch” of ripe bananas, stashing them alongside the apples and oranges in my fruit bowl, only to forget about their existence within a few short days.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
What’s more, the apples his trees bore were not destined for cobblers and pies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
Maybe they didn’t know humans would rather eat apples than mud.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
