maple

noun ma·ple \ ˈmā-pəl \

|Updated on: 18 Aug 2018

Definition of maple

: any of a genus (Acer of the family Aceraceae, the maple family) of chiefly deciduous trees or shrubs with opposite leaves and a fruit of two united samaras; also : the hard light-colored close-grained wood of a maple used especially for flooring and furniture

See maple defined for English-language learners

See maple defined for kids

Examples of maple in a Sentence

The maple leaf is an emblem of Canada.
a table made of maple

Recent Examples of maple from the Web

Wildwood Grill Master Collection Planks and Smoking Chips ($25) Different woods—like the hickory, cherry, maple, cedar, and alder in this set—bring out different flavors.

— bryan rogala, Outside Online, "10 Products That Will Turn You Into a Grill Master," 13 July 2018
Icings come in flavors of chocolate, caramel, maple, vanilla and other rotating flavorings.

— kyle arnold, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Create-your-own company The Donut Experiment plans Orlando shop," 19 June 2018
Where trees have fallen, new-growth maple, cherry and hemlock are poking through the earth.

— frank fitzpatrick, Philly.com, "Ashes of an industry: A Pennsylvania tradition is dying, one baseball bat at a time," 14 June 2018
Specials include maple, strawberry with sprinkles, apple cider and chocolate and hot fudge with custard.

— hannah steinkopf-frank, RedEye Chicago, "Grab doughnut deals all over Chicago Friday for National Doughnut Day," 30 May 2018
Four colors that have been given the luxurious upgrade: classic black, pastel light blue, oldest-school maple, and burnt orange.

— tyler watamanuk, GQ, "Clarks Gives Two Classic Shoes a Super-High-End Upgrade," 23 May 2018
At the shops, customers start with the base cinnamon roll and can choose from more than a dozen frosting flavors, including cake batter, maple, raspberry and lemon.

— nikki delamotte, cleveland.com, "Cinnaholic offering $1 cinnamon rolls for grand opening of first Ohio location," 8 May 2018
By planting larger species — oaks, maples, sycamores and white pines — away from power lines, municipalities could reduce the number of outages caused by falling tree limbs, and scale back the need for pruning, Pitz said.

— matthew ormseth, courant.com, "Eversource To Cut Back Trees Along 4,000 Miles Of Power Lines After Winter Storm Outages," 25 Apr. 2018
There are beloved spices such as cinnamon and cardamom, the predecessors of common trees such as sycamores and maples, and more unusual specimens, too.

— erin blakemore, Washington Post, "These seeds will captivate you whether you’re a gardener or not," 22 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'maple.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of maple

Middle English, from Old English mapul-; akin to Old Norse mǫpurr maple

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

MAPLE Defined for English Language Learners

maple

noun

Definition of maple for English Language Learners

: a type of tree that grows in northern parts of the world and has hard wood often used in making furniture
: the wood of a maple tree

MAPLE Defined for Kids

maple

noun ma·ple \ ˈmā-pəl \

Definition of maple for Students

: a tree having deeply notched leaves, seeds with a winglike part, and hard pale wood and including some whose sap is evaporated to a sweet syrup ( maple syrup ) and a brownish sugar ( maple sugar )