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

Phrases

apple of one's eye

: one that is highly cherished

his daughter is the apple of his eye

Examples of apple in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Upon investigation, the officer saw a grey Cybertruck on fire, with the unbroken Molotov cocktail in an apple cider vinegar bottle lying nearby. —Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 1 May 2025

Some of the more popular edible foraging finds in the state include chicken of the woods, fiddleheads, stinging nettle, wild garlic, garlic mustard, Japanese knotweed, Morel mushrooms, huckleberry, elderberry, wild raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and apples. —Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 29 Apr. 2025

Martinelli's is recalling more than 170,000 apple juice bottles because their contents may be contaminated by patulin, a toxic substance produced by some fungi. —Alain Sherter, CBS News, 28 Apr. 2025

Listen to this article Martinelli’s is recalling more than 170,000 apple juice bottles over possible contamination from patulin, a toxic substance produced by fungi. —David Matthews, New York Daily News, 28 Apr. 2025

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-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