custard apple

American  

noun

1. any of several trees of the genus Annona, as the cherimoya.

2. any of several other trees, as the pawpaw, Asimina triloba, bearing fruit with soft, edible pulp.

3. the fruit of any of these trees.

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custard apple British  

noun

1. a West Indian tree, Annona reticulata: family Annonaceae

2. the large heart-shaped fruit of this tree, which has a fleshy edible pulp

3. any of several related trees or fruits, esp the papaw and sweetsop

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Etymology

Origin of custard apple

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

Sandwiched between the tourist-magnet Costa del Sol and the Sierra Nevada range in southern Spain, the ravines where Montes’ custard apple and avocado orchards sit should have plenty of water.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 2, 2022

Ripe cherimoya, also known as custard apple, has the miraculous ability to taste like bananas, pears, pineapples and about six other, equally delicious fruits at the same time.

From New York Times • Nov. 12, 2019

“You can’t put Che down,” he said, walking among the ripe citrus, avocado and custard apple trees that now fill the ravine where the Argentinian revolutionary fought his last battle.

From The Guardian • Oct. 5, 2017

To get at the beans you first have to crack open the thick husk of the cocoa pod, releasing a pulp that has an intense tropical flavour that's halfway between lemonade and a custard apple.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2017

A near relative is the custard apple, filled with a ruddy compounded substance, which no cook can surpass.

From The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America by Kingston, William Henry Giles