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

See Examples For:

crab tree

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

Like a prairie it rolls gently away, dotted with hawthorn bushes, here and there a crab tree, and two rows of noble elms, in both of which the rooks are busy in spring.

From Wild Life in a Southern County by Jefferies, Richard

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

Besides several crab-stoles—the buds of the crab might be mistaken for thorns growing pointed at the extreme end of the twigs—there was a large crab tree, which bore a plentiful crop.

From Round About a Great Estate by Jefferies, Richard

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