apple-pie order

noun

1. excellent or perfect order:

   Her desk is always in apple-pie order.

apple-pie order

noun

1. informal.
   perfect order or condition

Word History and Origins

Origin of apple-pie order¹

First recorded in 1770–80

Idioms and Phrases

Extreme neatness, as in David keeps his financial records in apple-pie order . This term is generally believed to be an English corruption of the French nappes pliées , “neatly folded linen.” [Early 1600s]

Example Sentences

He was carrying the fighting harness, which was strapped up in apple-pie order according to his own dodges and wrinkles—for, from now on, he was Lancelot’s squire.

From Literature

That need to have everything in apple-pie order doesn’t reconcile with a spaceship that acts like a toddler when it chooses to act at all, “squealing, puking, dumping, and stealing.”

From Los Angeles Times

The identity of their opponents means this is more than a mere box-ticking exercise but, similarly to several others, the primary interest around Chelsea now is in establishing apple-pie order for their incoming manager Antonio Conte.

From The Guardian

That exertion was easy compared with getting the farm in apple-pie order.

From Architectural Digest

Lilian had put the hotel in apple-pie order, and given finishing touches to the guests' rooms, and Fairy had performed her part by inducing Mrs. Hickox to let them have an extra lot of flowers.

From Project Gutenberg