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crab apple

Syllabification: (crab ap·ple)

(also crabapple)

Translate crab apple | into German | into Italian

Definition of crab apple

noun

(also crab)

1a small, sour apple.

2 (also crab tree, crab-apple tree, or crabapple tree) the small tree that bears the crab apple.
- Genus Malus, family Rosaceae: several species and hybrids, in particular the wild Eurasian crab apple (M. sylvestris), which is one of the possible ancestors of cultivated apples

Origin:

late Middle English: crab perhaps an alteration (influenced by crab¹ or crabbed) of Scots and northern English scrab, in the same sense, probably of Scandinavian origin