apple

American  

[ap-uhl] / ˈæp əl /

noun

• apples
  plural

1. the usually round, red or yellow, edible fruit of a small tree, Malus sylvestris, of the rose family.

2. the tree, cultivated in most temperate regions.

3. the fruit of any of certain other species of tree of the same genus.

4. any of these trees.

5. any of various other similar fruits, or fruitlike products or plants, as the custard apple, love apple, May apple, or oak apple.

6. Informal. anything resembling an apple in size and shape, as a ball, especially a baseball.

7. Bowling. an ineffectively bowled ball.

8. Slang. a red capsule containing a barbiturate, especially secobarbital.

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apple British  

/ ˈæpəl /

noun

1. a rosaceous tree, Malus sieversii , native to Central Asia but widely cultivated in temperate regions in many varieties, having pink or white fragrant flowers and firm rounded edible fruits See also crab apple

2. the fruit of this tree, having red, yellow, or green skin and crisp whitish flesh

3. the wood of this tree

4. any of several unrelated trees that have fruits similar to the apple, such as the custard apple, sugar apple, and May apple See also love apple oak apple thorn apple

5. a person or thing that is very precious or much loved

6. a person with a corrupting influence

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apple Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing apple

• polish the apple
• rotten apple
• upset the applecart

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• apples
  plural

Etymology

Origin of apple

First recorded before 900; Middle English appel, Old English æppel; cognate with Old Frisian, Dutch appel, Old Saxon apl, appul, Old High German apful ( German Apfel ), Crimean Gothic apel, from unattested Germanic aplu (akin to Old Norse epli, from unattested apljan ); Old Irish ubull (neuter), Welsh afal, Breton aval, from unrecorded pre-Celtic ǫblu; Lithuanian óbuolas, -ỹs, Latvian âbuol(i)s (with reshaped suffix), Old Prussian woble, perhaps Thracian (din)upla, (sin)upyla “wild pumpkin,” Old Church Slavonic (j)ablŭko (representing unrecorded ablŭ-ko, neuter), from unattested Balto-Slavic āblu-. Cf. Avalon

Explanation

An apple is a round fruit with red or green skin and a whitish inside. One variety of apple might be sweet, another sour. The apple isn't just a fruit. It's a symbol — from the apples eaten by Adam and Eve in the Biblical creation story, which symbolize the loss of innocent to the expression "American as apple pie" to mean something that is wholesome. The "apple of your eye" is the person who delights you — maybe you are the apple of your grandfather's eye. He might tell you, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," meaning the fruit is good for your health.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

apple apples

Whether you’re a young politician looking to avoid alienating your peers, or a senior representative not looking to upset the apple cart, there’s little incentive to squabble over the way things have always been done.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

At its center is the crumbling marriage of two scientists; the story moves from a research base in Antarctica to a Wisconsin apple farm and, eventually, to a wild place called the Duoverse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Big cracks have opened under the apple trees, which have dropped unripe fruit early to save energy.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

The apple harvest in Germany is also expected to take a hit from the parched weather, Germany's Federal Statistical Office said in a report also released Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

The apple trees wouldn’t have anything to do with me.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

“There are bad apples in this space, including fly-by-night operators,” he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Quips fell out of her like apples from a tree, ripening and landing at just the right time in any conversation.

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026

Gravity is best known as the force that pulls objects toward Earth, but its role extends far beyond falling apples.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

"It's gut-wrenching," says Kimberly Jones of Honey's Cider near Bath, whose orchard has produced only a 10th of its normal amount of apples.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

In the World story, Maggie said she was eight years old and Kate, six, when they began dropping apples and snapping toes in Hydesville, where she also falsely claims they were born.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

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