bitter apple
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of bitter apple
First recorded in 1860–65
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.
“You can also use something like bitter apple spray on the entire length of the lights, and that will deter any chewing.”
From Slate ● Dec. 7, 2019
Look here, Peter," said Felix ominously, "they tell me that you've been praying right along that I couldn't eat a bitter apple.
From The Story Girl by Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud)
I never prayed that you couldn't eat a bitter apple.
From The Story Girl by Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud)
There was now a delicate odor, everywhere, faintly, like the blossom of the little bitter apple here in your country.
From The Sleuth of St. James's Square by Post, Melville Davisson
Felix prayed earnestly that he might be enabled to eat a bitter apple without making a face.
From The Story Girl by Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud)
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.
