crab apple
Americannoun
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a small, sour, wild apple.
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any of various small, tart, cultivated varieties of apple, used for making jelly and preserves.
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any tree bearing such fruit.
noun
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any of several rosaceous trees of the genus Malus that have white, pink, or red flowers and small sour apple-like fruits
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the fruit of any of these trees, used to make jam
Etymology
Origin of crab apple
First recorded in 1705–15
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.
The account shared a photo that some said was taken from a vantage point that neglected to show how the cherry blossom and crab apple trees were removed.
From Salon • Aug. 9, 2021
In the corner of a country garden, barely a mile from steep cliffs that overlook the sea, there's a newly planted crab apple tree.
From BBC • Dec. 24, 2020
She would settle for ripping the crab apple trees out of Jackie Kennedy’s rose garden.
From Slate • Nov. 7, 2020
The opposing ranks of five crab apple trees in the Rose Garden had been replaced over the years but struggled in large part because of a willow oak tree planted nearby during the Johnson administration.
From Washington Post • Jul. 28, 2020
They stopped for a picnic at the side of a meadow, under a crab apple tree.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
