CRAB APPLE


Meaning of CRAB APPLE in English

noun

Etymology: crab (IV)

1.

a. : a wild apple typically with small sour fruits: as

(1) : a rather small round-headed Eurasiatic tree ( Malus sylvestris ) that is the chief ancestor of cultivated apples

(2) : any of several American wild apples — usually used in combination; see american crab apple , iowa crab , oregon crab apple , southern crabapple

(3) : siberian crab

b. : a cultivated apple with small usually brightly colored fruits: as

(1) : any of various apples having usually acid fruits used especially for preserving and being derived in whole or in part from the Siberian crab

(2) : a cultivated flowering crab

2. : the fruit of a crab apple

3. : a moderate reddish orange that is lighter, stronger, and slightly yellower than flamingo, redder, lighter, and stronger than coral red, and redder, lighter, and stronger than burnt ocher

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.