ap|ple

ap|ple «AP uhl», noun.

1. the firm, fleshy, somewhat round fruit of a tree widely grown in temperate regions. Apples usually have red, yellow, or green skin and are eaten either raw or cooked.

2. the tree itself, belonging to the rose family, probably a native of Europe and the temperate regions of western Asia. Its blossom is the state flower of Michigan and Arkansas.

3. the fruit of any of various related trees, such as the crab apple.

4. any such tree.

5. any of various other fruits or fruitlike products, such as the oak apple and love apple (tomato).

6. U.S. Slang. a baseball.

7. U.S. Slang (Disparaging). an American Indian or Native American who betrays or neglects his own culture in favor of white society: »

Young Indian activists have been heard…to label an Indian bureaucrat, who may have neglected his origins, “an apple”—red on the outside, white on the inside (New York Times).

8. U.S. Slang. a citizens band radio operator who broadcasts illegally, especially by using output of greater power than the law permits.

╂[Old English æppel]

–ap´ple|like´, adjective.