crab tree

American  

noun

1. a tree bearing crab apples.

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Etymology

Origin of crab tree

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50

Example Sentences

Here and there crabs cling to the tough crab tree, whose bark has a dull gloss on it something like dark polished leather.

From Wild Life in a Southern County by Jefferies, Richard

The American crab tree is a snowy mount in spring; the flakes. of bloom, when they fall, cover the grass with a film—a bushel of bloom, which the wind takes and scatters afar.

From The Life of the Fields by Jefferies, Richard

In an aperture in the "crab tree" the guides recommend ladies to pass.

From Blacker's Art of Fly Making, &c. Comprising Angling, & Dyeing of Colours, with Engravings of Salmon & Trout Flies by Blacker, William

So here in the shadow of the American crab tree the light of the sky put out the written pages.

From The Life of the Fields by Jefferies, Richard

What do ’e expect from a fule but folly, or a crab tree but useless fruit, or hot blood but the ways of it?

From Children of the Mist by Phillpotts, Eden