crab apple
1
4.5
- noun
- /kræb ˈæpəl/
:
manzano silvestre
- In the fall, we harvested sour fruit from the crab apple tree to make delicious jelly.
- crab apple tree
- flowering crab apples
- wild crab apples
And so we'd stand by that fence and they had a bunch of, they had these crab apples and they looked like apples, but they were hard.
- And so we'd stand by that fence and they had a bunch of, they had these crab apples and they looked like apples, but they were hard.
Examples
-
We planted the crab-apple tree that day because we had finally paid off the mortgage on this house.
Fiction book (1990) -
Mikey and Annie sit off to the edge of the field in the shade of the crab apples, their faces smeared red, watching the show.
Fiction book (1992) -
The crab apples are too small, so I head out to the big trees in back.
Fiction book (1992) -
And maybe some crab apples for dessert, now, you hear?
-
She'd never noticed the twisted crab apple that grew by the front door of his apartment building.
Fiction book (1997) -
Behind them, in the backyard, the crab-apple tree bent in the sun.
Fiction book (1990) -
The short, twisted trees in the orchard offered their tiny crab apples.
Fiction book (2000) -
When the dogwoods and crab apples were in bloom, this place seemed like a fairy world.
Fiction book (2000) -
Small puffy white clouds drifted lazily across the sky above the crab apple tree.
Fiction book (2001) -
Out under our crab apple tree, we sat rubbing chunks of ice over our legs and arms in the stark-still afternoon.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
1
5.1
A small wild apple tree that has small sour fruit
A small apple tree grown for its tart fruit or pretty spring flowers
A small wild apple tree from Asia grown for its sour fruit and white spring flowers
A small hardy tree that makes sour red apples used for jam
A small tree that makes tart red apples used to make jam
A small red apple that tastes tart and is used to make jam
A small tree that makes red sour fruit used for jam
A medium-sized tree from the eastern United States with pink flowers and small yellow fruit called the American crab apple
A medium-sized tree with pink blossoms and small yellow fruit
A small wild apple tree that grows in the western United States and has fragrant pink flowers
A small wild apple tree with fragrant pink spring flowers
A wild small apple tree with sweet-smelling pink flowers
A small tree with white flowers and small yellow or red fruit
A wild crab apple tree with fragrant pink flowers
A small tree or shrub from the southeastern United States grown for its pretty pink spring flowers
A small apple tree from Europe that is a main ancestor of the apples we grow
A small tree or shrub with pretty flowers planted in gardens
How Sour
Surface Forms
Morphology
crab + apple
The constituent 'apple' clearly indicates this is a type of apple, so learners can infer the category; however 'crab' here does not mean the animal but an older/specialized sense meaning small or sour, which a B1 learner who only knows 'crab' as the animal will not predict. The relation is therefore partially transparent (you can tell it is an apple variety) but the precise meaning ('small, sour') is lexicalized and requires prior exposure.
Etymology
The noun crab apple may come from the old use of crab to mean 'sour' or 'small and sharp', so it names a tiny, tart apple. That's why today crab apple means a small, sour apple or the tree that makes it, often used for jam or to decorate gardens.