# apple

Pronunciation: say "AP-ul" /ˈæp.l̩/

## Noun

1. The firm, round fruit of the apple tree, with red, green, or yellow skin and crisp flesh, eaten raw, cooked, or pressed for juice and cider.
   - Simple: A round fruit with red, green or yellow skin and crisp white flesh, eaten raw or cooked.
   - _He sliced an apple into thin pieces for the salad._
   - _These apples are tart enough to make a good pie._
2. The tree that bears apples: any tree of the genus Malus, especially the widely grown Malus domestica.
   - Simple: The kind of tree that apples grow on.
   - _A mature apple can yield hundreds of fruit in a single season._
   - _The orchard's apples were heavy with blossom by early May._
3. Often with a qualifying word, any fruit, vegetable or growth such as a cone or gall resembling the common apple, especially on a tree.
   - Simple: Any fruit, vegetable, or other plant growth like the common round fruit, often named with another word in front.
   - _Older gardening books often call the tomato a love apple._
   - _Each oak apple on the branch was a gall formed by a tiny wasp._
4. A person, in slang usage. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A slang word for a person.
   - _He seems gruff, but he's a good apple once you get to know him._
   - _A few bad apples spoiled the evening for everyone else._
5. An object resembling the fruit of Malus domestica in shape (such as a ball, breast, or globe) or in color.
   - Simple: Something shaped or colored like the round fruit, such as a ball, globe, or breast.
   - _The scepter ended in a jeweled apple of solid gold._
   - _Each fencepost was crowned with a small carved apple._
6. The plump, rounded area of the cheek that stands out between the eye and the mouth's corner when someone smiles. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The round, soft part of a cheek between the eye and the mouth that lifts when you smile.
   - _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._
7. The wood obtained from the apple tree.
   - Simple: The wood of the apple tree.
   - _The cabinetmaker prized apple for its fine, even grain._
   - _They burned apple in the smoker to flavor the cheese._
8. The lump at the front of the throat, formed by cartilage around the voice box; short for Adam's apple. — Ellipsis of Adam's apple (“the lump in the throat, usually more noticeable in men than in women; the laryngeal prominence”).
   - Simple: Short form of Adam's apple. It means the lump at the front of the throat.
9. A vivid yellowish-green color; short for apple-green. — Ellipsis of apple-green (“a bright green colour with a light tint of yellow, like that of a Granny Smith apple”).
   - Simple: Short form of apple-green. It names a bright green color with a little yellow in it.
   - _The spring collection is available in apple, coral, and stone._
   - _She wore a sundress in apple with a white cardigan._
12. A derogatory term for a Native American person regarded as acting or thinking like a white person. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: An insulting word for a Native American person seen 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._

## Verb

13. To give something the round shape or look of an apple, as a broad smile does to the cheeks.
   - Simple: To make something round like an apple, as a big smile does to the cheeks.

## Noun

10. The pupil of the eye, sometimes with the iris, or the whole eyeball; short for apple of the eye. Archaic. *(archaic)* — Ellipsis of apple of the eye (“the pupil, or pupil and iris, of the eye, originally believed to be spherical; also, the eyeball”).
   - Simple: Short form of apple of the eye. An old word for the pupil or the eyeball.
11. A pome, a fruit whose often edible flesh arises from the swollen base of the flower rather than from the carpels. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A fleshy fruit whose edible part grows from the swollen base of the flower, not the seed core.
14. A baseball: the ball that players pitch, hit, and catch in the game. *(dated)*
   - Simple: The ball used in the game of baseball.
   - _The hurler wound up and fired the apple across the plate._
   - _The shortstop scooped up the apple and fired it to first._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A scoring assist: a pass or play credited to the player who sets up a teammate's goal.
- (noun) The surface formed when a circular arc of more than 180° is rotated about the straight line through its two endpoints.
- (noun) A round, ball-shaped bowl on a tobacco pipe; also, a pipe fitted with a bowl of that form.
- (noun) A CB radio enthusiast; a person who uses citizens band radio as a hobby.
- (verb) To gather or collect fir cones.

## Origin

The noun comes from Middle English appel and Old English æppel ("apple; any type of fruit; ball; eyeball"), from Proto-West Germanic *applu and Proto-Germanic *aplaz, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl ("apple"), though the origin beyond Germanic is disputed. It is related to Dutch appel, German Apfel, and Swedish äpple, among others; the verb is derived from the noun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/apple (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).