pineapple

American  

[pahy-nap-uhl] / ˈpaɪˌnæp əl /

noun

1. the edible, juicy, collective fruit of a tropical, bromeliaceous plant, Ananas comosus, that develops from a spike or head of flowers and is surmounted by a crown of leaves.

2. the plant itself, having a short stem and rigid, spiny-margined, recurved leaves.

3. Military Slang. a fragmentation hand grenade.

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pineapple British  

/ ˈpaɪnˌæpəl /

noun

1. a tropical American bromeliaceous plant, Ananas comosus, cultivated in the tropics for its large fleshy edible fruit

2. the fruit of this plant, consisting of an inflorescence clustered around a fleshy axis and surmounted by a tuft of leaves

3. slang military a hand grenade

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Etymology

Origin of pineapple

1350–1400 for earlier sense; 1655–65 pineapple for def. 1; Middle English pinappel pine cone; pine ¹, apple

Example Sentences

“It may take one or two years for the tragic consequences to become clear, but this is like asking farmers in North Dakota to grow pineapples. It won’t work and can’t end well.”

From Los Angeles Times

U.S. and Cook Islands government news releases showed him in a suit picking at pieces of pineapple and papaya as he sat opposite a group of diplomats in Hawaiian-style shirts.

From The Wall Street Journal

Outrage simmers among the kids when one of the audience volunteers gets the softball “pineapple.”

From The Wall Street Journal

At roughly the same time, a 16-year-old prankster from Ohio named Jake Paul was posting six-second Vine videos - chatting to pineapples in supermarkets and climbing into strangers' shopping trolleys for a laugh.

From BBC

It was a marvel of its genre: cream cheese, sharp cheddar, a splash of Worcestershire, a spoonful of sugar, crushed pineapple, pecans.

From Salon

Related Words

• ammunition
• bomb
• booby trap
• detonator
• dynamite
• gunpowder
• mine
• missile
• munition
• powder