pineapple
Americannoun
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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.
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the plant itself, having a short stem and rigid, spiny-margined, recurved leaves.
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Military Slang. a fragmentation hand grenade.
noun
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a tropical American bromeliaceous plant, Ananas comosus, cultivated in the tropics for its large fleshy edible fruit
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the fruit of this plant, consisting of an inflorescence clustered around a fleshy axis and surmounted by a tuft of leaves
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slang military a hand grenade
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pineapple
1350–1400 for earlier sense; 1655–65 pineapple for def. 1; Middle English pinappel pine cone; see pine 1, apple
Explanation
A pineapple is a sweet tropical fruit with a tough leathery skin and spiky leaves on top. Pineapple is excellent, whether eaten as a snack, in a sweet dessert, in savory dishes like fried rice, or even on pizza. The word pineapple was first used to mean "pine cone," and the fruit was given this name because of its (slight) resemblance to a large pine cone. Pineapples are more commonly called ananas in other parts of the world, from the Tupi nanas, or "excellent fruit." Images of pineapples are commonly used to represent hospitality.
Vocabulary lists containing pineapple
Africa - Introductory
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South America - Middle School
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South America - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
If the goal is a flavanol friendly smoothie, try combining berries with low PPO ingredients such as mango, pineapple, orange, or yogurt.
From Science Daily ● May 24, 2026
Brayen is allergic to dairy, banana, pineapple, peas, green beans, wheat, egg, soya, nuts and peanuts, kiwi, root vegetables and pea protein.
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026
My Domino’s order is a small pepperoni, pineapple, olives and sausage slice ... hand tossed, cheesed up, and then I will get a side of garlic knots and a side of buffalo wings with ranch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
Befitting the name, the drink arrives in a frozen pineapple crowned with sparklers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
‘This one is pineapple, mango, orange and banana, buried under a mound of shaved coconut. I call it the Hercules!’
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
On Reddit, folks recommend making a classic Hawaiian pizza with pineapples and bacon, along with combining goat’s cheese, honey, fresh figs and braesola in a pie.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
Bananas, mangoes, pineapples and off-season berries and vegetables are all exposed to higher input costs, Lempert added, and consumers could pay between 5% and 20% more by the fall, depending on produce origin.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 21, 2026
The trade pressure on Tokyo began soon after Takaichi’s November comment, when China quickly halted imports of Japanese seafood—sparking memories in Taipei of a 2021 ban on Taiwanese pineapples.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
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 ● Dec. 19, 2025
“It has pictures of fruits on it—bananas, apples, oranges, grapes, pineapples, strawberries, and snozzberries....”
From "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl
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.
