Apple
(Ap"ple) n. [OE. appel, eppel, AS. æppel, æpl; akin to Fries. & D. appel, OHG, aphul, aphol,
G. apfel, Icel. epli, Sw. äple, Dan. æble, Gael. ubhall, W. afal, Arm. aval, Lith. ob&uringlys, 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.
The European crab apple is supposed to be the original kind, from which all others have sprung.
2. (bot.) Any tree genus Pyrus which has the stalk sunken into the base of the fruit; an apple tree.
3. Any fruit or other vegetable production resembling, or supposed to resemble, the apple; as, apple of
love, or love apple balsam apple, egg apple, oak apple.
4. Anything round like an apple; as, an apple of gold.
Apple is used either adjectively or in combination; as, apple paper or apple-paper, apple-shaped, apple
blossom, apple dumpling, apple pudding.
Apple blight, an aphid which injures apple trees. See Blight, n. — Apple borer (Zoöl.), a coleopterous
insect (Saperda candida or 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 (Zoöl.), any dipterous insect, the larva of which burrows in apples. Apple flies belong to the genera
Drosophila and Trypeta. — Apple midge (Zoöl.) a small dipterous insect 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 — 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 Sodomæum, a prickly shrub with fruit not unlike a small yellow tomato. — Apple sauce,
stewed apples. [U. S.] — Apple snail or Apple shell (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), 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.
Apple
(Ap"ple) v. i. To grow like an apple; to bear apples. Holland.
Apple-faced
(Ap"ple-faced`) a. Having a round, broad face, like an apple. "Apple-faced children." Dickens.
