apple

noun

ap·​ple ˈa-pəl 

often attributive

1

: the fleshy, usually rounded red, yellow, or green edible pome fruit of a usually cultivated tree (genus Malus) of the rose family

also : an apple tree compare crab apple

2

: a fruit (such as a star apple) or other vegetative growth (such as an oak apple) suggestive of an apple

see also:

apple of one's eye

Examples of apple in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The comparison is not of the apples-to-apples variety, because a late-night host’s last program is bound to win a large audience, just as a repeat aired on a Friday night is not. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 29 May 2026

The retailer’s new soft drink lineup includes apple, grapefruit, lemon lime and cola flavors now rolling out to stores. —Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 28 May 2026

With both apple and peach picking canceled this year, the family is encouraging customers to continue supporting the farm by purchasing other seasonal crops, including strawberries, asparagus and corn. —Madeleine Wright, CBS News, 28 May 2026

Set these traps up around your yard with bait like nuts, apples, or fruits to catch the squirrels and move to another location five to ten miles away from your home. —Ashlyn Needham, The Spruce, 28 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English appel, from Old English æppel; akin to Old High German apful apple, Old Irish ubull, Old Church Slavic ablŭko

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing apple

• Adam's apple
• apple butter
• apple-cheeked
• apple-knocker
• apple maggot
• apple of one's eye
• apple-pie
• apple-polish
• apple scab
• (as) American as apple pie
• bad apple
• candy apple
• cedar-apple rust
• crab apple
• custard apple
• in apple-pie order
• lady apple
• love apple
• oak apple
• star apple
• sugar apple
• the apple of someone's eye
• thorn apple
• upset the apple cart

Rhymes for apple

• appal
• chapel
• dapple
• grapple
• pineapple

Kids Definition

apple

noun

ap·​ple ˈap-əl 

: a rounded fruit with a red, yellow, or green skin, firm white flesh and a seedy core

also : the tree of the rose family that bears this fruit

Medical Definition

apple

noun

ap·​ple ˈap-əl 

: the fleshy usually rounded and red, yellow, or green edible pome fruit of a tree (genus Malus) of the rose family

also : an apple tree