love apple

noun

a tropical, tender plant, Solanum aculeatissimum, of the nightshade family, having prickly leaves, clusters of large, star-shaped white flowers, and red, tomatolike fruit.
Archaic. the tomato.

Origin of love apple

1570–80; compare French pomme d'amour,German Liebesapfel

Words Nearby love apple

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use love apple in a sentence

Yet the Tomato or love apple (so called because it was supposed to excite tender feelings) is both nutritious and delicious.
The Romance of Plant Life | G. F. Scott Elliot
They're nearly gone; but I shall always love apple blossoms.
In Apple-Blossom Time | Clara Louise Burnham
So far was he concern'd in looking after that Love-apple, or Night-shadow, for the cure of his own burning distemper.
The Ten Pleasures of Marriage and The Confession of the New-married Couple (1682) | A. Marsh
In Sicily, when a young man is in love, he presents the object of his affections with a love apple.
Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics | Richard Folkard
All swallow the love-apple bait presented by some wicked genius of the devil, who sports with the affections of mankind.
The Court of Cacus | Alexander Leighton

British Dictionary definitions for love apple

love apple

noun

an archaic name for tomato

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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