from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Apple \Ap"ple\ ([a^]p"p'l), n. [OE. appel, eppel, AS. [ae]ppel,
[ae]pl; akin to Fries. & D. appel, OHG, aphul, aphol, G.
apfel, Icel. epli, Sw. [aum]ple, Dan. [ae]ble, Gael. ubhall,
W. afal, Arm. aval, Lith. ob[*u]lys, Russ. iabloko; of
unknown origin.]
1. The fleshy pome or fruit of a rosaceous tree ({Pyrus
malus}) cultivated in numberless varieties in the
temperate zones.
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Note: The European crab apple is supposed to be the original
kind, from which all others have sprung.
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2. (bot.) Any tree genus {Pyrus} which has the stalk sunken
into the base of the fruit; an apple tree.
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3. Any fruit or other vegetable production resembling, or
supposed to resemble, the apple; as, apple of love, or
love apple (a tomato), balsam apple, egg apple, oak apple.
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4. Anything round like an apple; as, an apple of gold.
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Note: Apple is used either adjectively or in combination; as,
apple paper or apple-paper, apple-shaped, apple
blossom, apple dumpling, apple pudding.
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{Apple blight}, an aphid which injures apple trees. See
{Blight}, n.
{Apple borer} (Zool.), a coleopterous insect ({Saperda
candida} or {Saperda bivittata}), the larva of which bores
into the trunk of the apple tree and pear tree.
{Apple brandy}, brandy made from apples.
{Apple butter}, a sauce made of apples stewed down in cider.
--Bartlett.
{Apple corer}, an instrument for removing the cores from
apples.
{Apple fly} (Zool.), any dipterous insect, the larva of which
burrows in apples. Apple flies belong to the genera
{Drosophila} and {Trypeta}.
{Apple midge} (Zool.) a small dipterous insect ({Sciara
mali}), the larva of which bores in apples.
{Apple of the eye}, the pupil.
{Apple of discord}, a subject of contention and envy, so
called from the mythological golden apple, inscribed "For
the fairest," which was thrown into an assembly of the
gods by Eris, the goddess of discord. It was contended for
by Juno, Minerva, and Venus, and was adjudged to the
latter.
{Apple of love}, or {Love apple}, the tomato ({Lycopersicum
esculentum}).
{Apple of Peru}, a large coarse herb ({Nicandra physaloides})
bearing pale blue flowers, and a bladderlike fruit
inclosing a dry berry.
{Apples of Sodom}, a fruit described by ancient writers as
externally of fair appearance but dissolving into smoke
and ashes when plucked; Dead Sea apples. The name is often
given to the fruit of {Solanum Sodom[ae]um}, a prickly
shrub with fruit not unlike a small yellow tomato.
{Apple sauce}, stewed apples. [U. S.]
{Apple snail} or {Apple shell} (Zool.), a fresh-water,
operculated, spiral shell of the genus {Ampullaria}.
{Apple tart}, a tart containing apples.
{Apple tree}, a tree which naturally bears apples. See
{Apple, 2.}
{Apple wine}, cider.
{Apple worm} (Zool.), the larva of a small moth ({Carpocapsa
pomonella}) which burrows in the interior of apples. See
{Codling moth}.
{Dead Sea Apple}.
(a) pl. Apples of Sodom. Also Fig. "To seek the Dead Sea
apples of politics." --S. B. Griffin.
(b) A kind of gallnut coming from Arabia. See {Gallnut}.
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