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apple

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ap⋅ple

  [ap-uhl]
Use apple in a Sentence
–noun
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. anything resembling an apple in size and shape, as a ball, esp. a baseball.
7. Bowling. an ineffectively bowled ball.
8. Slang. a red capsule containing a barbiturate, esp. secobarbital.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME appel, OE æppel; c. OFris, D appel, OS apl, appul, OHG apful (G Apfel), Crimean Goth apel < Gmc *aplu (akin to ON epli < *apljan ); OIr ubull (neut.), Welsh afal, Breton aval < pre-Celtic *ǫblu; Lith óbuolas, -ỹs, Latvian âbuol(i)s (with reshaped suffix), OPruss woble, perh. Thracian (din)upla, (sin)upyla wild pumpkin, OCS (j)ablŭko (repr. *ablŭ-ko, neut.) < Balto-Slavic *āblu-. Cf. Avalon
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ap·ple   (āp'əl)   
n.  

    1. A deciduous Eurasian tree (Malus pumila) having alternate simple leaves and white or pink flowers.

    2. The firm, edible, usually rounded fruit of this tree.

    3. Any of several other plants, especially those with fruits suggestive of the apple, such as the crab apple or custard apple.

    4. The fruit of any of these plants.

    1. Any of several other plants, especially those with fruits suggestive of the apple, such as the crab apple or custard apple.

    2. The fruit of any of these plants.


[Middle English appel, from Old English æppel.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
apple

  1. n.
    a baseball. : Jim slammed the apple over the plate, but the ump called it a ball.
  2. n.
    an American Indian who behaves more like a European than an Indian. (Like the apple, the person is red on the outside and white on the inside. Patterned on oreo. See also banana. Rude and derogatory.) : Stop acting like an apple all the time!
  3. n.
    a breast. (Usually plural. Usually objectionable.) : Look at the firm little apples on that girl!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

apple 
O.E. æppel "apple," from P.Gmc. *ap(a)laz (cf. O.Fris., Du. appel, O.N. eple, O.H.G. apful, Ger. Apfel), from PIE *ab(e)l "apple" (cf. Gaul. avallo, O.Ir. ubull, Lith. obuolys, O.C.S. jabloko), but the exact relation and original sense of these is uncertain. Gk. melon and L. malum are probably from a pre-I.E. Mediterranean language. A generic term for all fruit, other than berries but including nuts, as late as 17c., hence its use for the unnamed "fruit of the forbidden tree" in Genesis. Cucumbers, in one O.E. work, are eorþæppla, lit. "earth-apples" (cf. Fr. pomme de terre "potato," lit. "earth-apple;" see also melon). Fr. pomme is from L. pomum "fruit."
"A roted eppel amang þe holen, makeþ rotie þe yzounde." ["Ayenbite of Inwit," 1340]
Apple of Discord (c.1400) was thrown into the wedding of Thetis and Peleus by Eris (goddess of chaos and discord), who had not been invited, and inscribed kallisti "To the Prettiest One." Paris, elected to choose which goddess should have it, gave it to Aphrodite, offending Hera and Athene, with consequences of the Trojan War, etc. Apple of one's eye (O.E.), symbol of what is most cherished, was the pupil, supposed to be a globular solid body. Apple-polisher "one who curries favor" first attested 1928 in student slang.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: ap·ple
Pronunciation: 'ap-&l
Function: noun
: the fleshy usually rounded and red, yellow, or green edible pome fruit of a tree (genusMalus) of the rose family; also : an apple tree
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Computing Dictionary

APPLE language
A revision of APL for the Illiac IV.
(1995-04-28)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Bible Dictionary

Apple

(Heb. tappuah, meaning "fragrance"). Probably the apricot or quince is intended by the word, as Palestine was too hot for the growth of apples proper. It is enumerated among the most valuable trees of Palestine (Joel 1:12), and frequently referred to in Canticles, and noted for its beauty (2:3, 5; 8:5). There is nothing to show that it was the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Dr. Tristram has suggested that the apricot has better claims than any other fruit-tree to be the apple of Scripture. It grows to a height of 30 feet, has a roundish mass of glossy leaves, and bears an orange coloured fruit that gives out a delicious perfume. The "apple of the eye" is the Heb. _ishon_, meaning manikin, i.e., the pupil of the eye (Prov. 7:2). (Comp. the promise, Zech. 2:8; the prayer, Ps. 17:8; and its fulfilment, Deut. 32:10.) The so-called "apple of Sodom" some have supposed to be the Solanum sanctum (Heb. hedek), rendered "brier" (q.v.) in Micah 7:4, a thorny plant bearing fruit like the potato-apple. This shrub abounds in the Jordan valley. (See ENGEDI.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

apple

In addition to the idioms beginning with apple, also see polish the apple; rotten apple; upset the applecart.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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