Ap"ple (ăp"p'l), v. i. To grow like an
apple; to bear apples. Holland.
Ap"ple (ăp"p'l), 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. obůlys, 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.
&fist; 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 (a tomato), 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 (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 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.
Hear it pronounced