apple

Less common meanings

6. 6
   cheeknouncolloquialcountable

   The plump, rounded area of the cheek that stands out between the eye and the mouth's corner when someone smiles.

   Stage makeup brought out the apples of her cheeks under the bright lights.

   A dimple formed just below the apple of his cheek when he laughed.

   UsageUsually plural, with of: the apples of her cheeks.

7. 7
   woodnoununcountable

   The wood obtained from the apple tree.

   The cabinetmaker prized apple for its fine, even grain.

   They burned apple in the smoker to flavor the cheese.

   Similarapplewood

8. 8
   throat lumpnounabbreviationellipsis

   The lump at the front of the throat, formed by cartilage around the voice box; short for Adam's apple.

   He looked with vague hope up and down the quay, a big apple bulging in his neck.

   1922, James Joyce, “[Episode 10: Wandering Rocks]”

   The apple in his neck was hitting against his collar every time he drew breath and he tore at his collar nervously.

   a. 1985 (date written), Liam O’Flaherty, “Josephine”

   Note

   Writers clip Adam's apple when the throat is already in the sentence: "the apple in his throat rose", or "a big apple bulging in his neck" in Joyce's Ulysses. Without that anchor a reader hears fruit, so keep the location close by. The full compound also names a fragrant houseplant, a banana and a citron, but the short form keeps only the throat meaning. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • Apple can be an elliptical form of Adam's apple referring to the throat prominence. en.wiktionary.org
   • The quoted wording 'the apple in his throat rose' occurs in a literary source. archive.org
   • James Joyce's Ulysses contains 'a big apple bulging in his neck', in narration. gutenberg.org
   • Adam's apple also names a fragrant houseplant. en.wiktionary.org
   • Adam's apple also names a banana. en.wiktionary.org
   • Adam's apple also names a citron. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   light greennounabbreviationellipsis

   A vivid yellowish-green color; short for apple-green.

   The spring collection is available in apple, coral, and stone.

   She wore a sundress in apple with a white cardigan.

   Note

   A shade name, and a green one. The full apple-green is a bright green with a light tint of yellow, like a Granny Smith, not the red many people picture. The compound works as a noun, countable or uncountable, and also as an adjective. The clipped apple is the noun, and it reads best where fabric, paint or clothing makes clear that a color is meant. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Apple-green is bright green with a light yellow tint, resembling a Granny Smith apple. en.wiktionary.org
   • Apple-green is both a countable and uncountable noun and an adjective. en.wiktionary.org
   • The colour noun apple is an ellipsis of apple-green. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    eyeballnounarchaichistoricalabbreviationellipsis

    The pupil of the eye, sometimes with the iris, or the whole eyeball; short for apple of the eye. Archaic.

    None have their eies all of one colour: for the ball or apple in the middeſt is ordinarily of another colour than the vvhite about it.

    1601, Pliny the Elder, “[Book XI.] A Discourse Anatomicall, of the Nature of Living Creatures, Part by Part, according to Their Particular…

    Note

    A piece of older anatomy. The pupil, or the pupil and iris, was believed to be a solid sphere, so it was called the apple, and sometimes the whole eyeball was too. George Chapman's Iliad (1611) describes a spear wound in which "out the apple fell". On its own the word now belongs to historical writing, and the full phrase apple of the eye carries the same meaning. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Apple denoted the pupil, the pupil and iris, or the whole eyeball, which were originally regarded as spherical. en.wiktionary.org
    • The pupil was thought to be solid and was called the apple. worldwidewords.org
    • George Chapman's complete translation of the Iliad was first published in 1611. apps.lib.umich.edu
    • Chapman's Iliad describes a spear wound using the exact words “out the apple fell”. en.wiktionary.org
    • The full phrase apple of the eye has the same anatomical referents. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    nounobsolete

    A pome, a fruit whose often edible flesh arises from the swollen base of the flower rather than from the carpels.

    Note

    This botanical usage has dropped out of the field. Where older writers stretched apple over a whole class of fruit, a botanist now says pome. The stretch came from the word's history: Middle English appel could mean any fruit, nut or tuber. Some of that breadth survives loosely in the broad "any fruit" meaning. In technical writing today, use pome, because apple in this sense will read as a slip. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Apple formerly denoted the botanical fruit class called a pome. en.wiktionary.org
    • Middle English appel could denote any fruit, nut or tuber. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    ethnic insultnounslangderogatoryethnicoffensiveslurUScountable

    A derogatory term for a Native American person regarded as acting or thinking like a white person.

    Tribal members who worked closely with federal officials were sometimes dismissed as apples.

    He was stung when a tribal elder called him an apple, red on the outside and white on the inside.

    UsageDo not use it about anyone, even jokingly.

    Note

    An ethnic slur built on the fruit's two colors: red on the outside, white on the inside. Its sting is an accusation of disowning one's people, so it is not a word to apply to anyone. It is also turned inward. Joel Spring in 1996 calls his ancestors five generations back apples, and Opal J. Moore in 1998 describes a presenter naming herself one. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The slur compares a Native American person to an apple's red exterior and white interior. spencerart.ku.edu
    • Joel Spring's cited book was originally published in 1996. api.pageplace.de
    • Spring calls his ancestors five generations back apples. en.wiktionary.org
    • Moore describes a presenter applying the term to herself. en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    verbtransitive

    To give something the round shape or look of an apple, as a broad smile does to the cheeks.

    A large smile appled his full cheeks as the four sprytes eagerly served themselves from the seeds and thinly sliced fruits.

    2007, Claudia D. Newcorn, Crossover

    Note

    A verb for cheeks rounding in a smile, met mostly in descriptive writing. In Claudia Newcorn's Crossover, "a large smile appled his full cheeks". It echoes the rounded part of the cheek. The forms are appled and appling, with the final e dropped before -ing. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Claudia Newcorn's Crossover contains the quoted description of a smile rounding someone's cheeks. en.wiktionary.org
    • Apple also means the rounded part of the cheek. en.wiktionary.org
    • The verb forms are appled and appling; appling drops the final e of apple before -ing. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    baseballnoundated

    A baseball: the ball that players pitch, hit, and catch in the game.

    The hurler wound up and fired the apple across the plate.

    Hey Dad! What do you say we toss the old apple around, huh? Sound like fun?

    1990, Matt Groening, Al Jean

    Note

    Old ballpark slang, usually in the full form old apple. It has long dropped out of everyday use, but it returns as a knowingly folksy phrase: in The Simpsons episode "The Telltale Head" (1990), the invitation is to "toss the old apple around". Use it that way, for period color or gentle comedy, rather than as a plain word for the ball. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Apple is historical baseball slang, also appearing in the fuller expression old apple. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Simpsons episode The Telltale Head originally aired in 1990. en.wikipedia.org
    • The episode contains the invitation quoted in the note. en.wiktionary.org
15. 15
    nounslang

    A scoring assist: a pass or play credited to the player who sets up a teammate's goal.
16. 16
    noun

    The surface formed when a circular arc of more than 180° is rotated about the straight line through its two endpoints.
17. 17
    noun

    A round, ball-shaped bowl on a tobacco pipe; also, a pipe fitted with a bowl of that form.
18. 18
    nounslang

    A CB radio enthusiast; a person who uses citizens band radio as a hobby.
19. 19
    verbdialectalUK

    To gather or collect fir cones.