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apple

Syllabification: (ap·ple)
Pronunciation: /ˈapəl/
Translate apple | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of apple

noun

  • 1the round fruit of a tree of the rose family, which typically has thin red or green skin and crisp flesh. Many varieties have been developed as dessert or cooking fruit or for making cider.
  • [with modifier] an unrelated fruit that resembles an apple in some way. See also custard apple, thorn apple.
  • 2 (also apple tree) the tree which bears apples.
    • Genus Malus, family Rosaceae: numerous hybrids and cultivars

Phrases

the apple never falls far from the tree

proverb family characteristics are usually inherited.

the apple of one's eye

a person of whom one is extremely fond and proud.
[originally denoting the pupil of the eye, considered to be a globular solid body, extended as a symbol of something cherished]

apples and oranges

North American (of two people or things) irreconcilably or fundamentally different.

a rotten (or bad) apple

informal a bad or corrupt person in a group, typically one whose behavior is likely to have a detrimental influence on his or her associates.
[with reference to the effect that a rotten apple has on fruit with which it is in contact]

upset the applecart

spoil a plan or disturb the status quo.

Origin:

Old English æppel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch appel and German Apfel

apple in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of apple in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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