apple

1. [uncountable and countable] a hard round fruit that has red, light green, or yellow skin and is white inside:
apple pie
an apple tree
roast pork and apple sauce (=a thick sauce made from cooked apples) ⇨ ↑cooking apple, ↑eating apple
2. be the apple of sb’s eye to be loved very much by someone:
Ben was always the apple of his father’s eye.
3. bob/dunk/dip for apples to play a game in which you must use your teeth to pick up apples floating in water
4. be as American as apple pie used to describe something that is typically American
5. the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree American English used to say that children are usually similar to their parents, especially in a bad way
⇨ upset the apple cart at ↑upset¹(4), ⇨ a rotten apple at ↑rotten¹(7), ⇨ ADAM’S APPLE, ↑Big Apple
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ juicy a juicy green apple
▪ sweet This apple’s really sweet and delicious.
▪ sour/tart (=not at all sweet) Some people prefer a slightly sour apple.
▪ rotten (=bad, so that the skin goes brown) There were a few rotten apples lying on the ground.
▪ an eating/dessert apple (=one which is sweet enough to eat) Use dessert apples for this recipe.
▪ a cooking apple
▪ a baked apple (=one that has been cooked in the oven)
■ verbs
▪ eat an apple Some people say that you should eat an apple every day.
▪ bite into an apple Sue bit into her apple with a loud crunch.
▪ munch on an apple (=eat it) He was munching on an apple.
▪ peel an apple (=remove the skin) Peel the apples and slice them finely.
▪ core an apple (=remove the middle part containing the seeds) Core the apples and cut into quarters.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

apple [apple apples] [ˈæpl] [ˈæpl] noun

a round fruit with shiny red or green skin and firm white flesh
• an apple pie
• apple sauce
• a garden with three apple trees
see also Adam's apple, Big Apple, cooking apple, crab apple, eating apple, toffee apple
more at as American as apple pie at American _adj., a rotten apple at rotten
Idioms: apple doesn't fall falls far from the tree ▪ apple of somebody's eye ▪ apples and oranges
Word Origin:
Old English æppel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch appel and German Apfel.
Example Bank:
• Add some sugar to the stewed apple— it's still a little tart.
• He just sat there munching on an apple.

• The apples were all bruised after being dropped on the floor.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

apple /ˈæp.ļ/
noun [C or U]
a round fruit with a firm white flesh and a green, red or yellow skin:
to peel an apple
apple pie/sauce
an apple tree.

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

[æ̱p(ə)l]
apples
1) N-VAR An apple is a round fruit with smooth green, yellow, or red skin and firm white flesh.
→ See also Adam's apple, Big Apple, crab apple
  I want an apple.
  ...2kg cooking apples.
  ...his ongoing search for the finest varieties of apple.
  ...a large garden with apple trees in it.
2) PHRASE: usu v-link PHR If you say that someone is the apple of your eye, you mean that they are very important to you and you are extremely fond of them.
  Penny's only son was the apple of her eye.

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

apple

ap·ple /ˈæpəl/ noun, pl ap·ples : a round fruit with red, yellow, or green skin and firm white flesh

[count]

• crisp juicy apples
• a bad/rotten apple [=an apple that has rotted and cannot be eaten]

[noncount]

• a piece of apple
- often used before another noun
• apple pie
• apple juice
• apple trees

✦In figurative use, a bad apple or rotten apple is a bad member of a group who causes problems for the rest of the group.
• A few bad apples cheated on the test, and now everyone has to take the test again.
• One rotten apple ruined the day for the rest of us.

compare apples to apples/oranges

the apple of someone's eye : a person or thing that someone loves very much
• His daughter is the apple of his eye.
upset the apple cart