in apple-pie order
1
7.7
- idiom
- Archaic
:
en perfecto orden
- Naturally, his own Q-space version was maintained in apple pie order.
Examples
-
After organizing all the files, the office was finally in apple-pie order.
-
She arranged her bookshelf so that everything was in apple-pie order.
-
The teacher praised the students for keeping their desks in apple-pie order.
Synonyms
233
1.6
Neatly arranged and ready to use
2
4.3
Organized neatly so things are easy to find
1
8.4
A place or situation where things are very clean and neatly arranged
Organized neatly so things are easy to find
Put into groups or in a clear order
Antonyms
How Organized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'in perfectly neat or well-organized condition' is not transparently built from the literal constituents 'apple-pie' (a dessert) and 'order' (sequence/arrangement); the food metaphor is used idiomatically to signal neatness/perfection and is culture-specific. A B1 learner who knows 'apple', 'pie' and 'order' would be unlikely to derive this non-literal sense without prior exposure, so the expression is idiomatic rather than compositional.
Etymology
In apple-pie order may come from the picture of neat apple pies on a table, each one cut into equal slices and put in a tidy row. That's why it now means 'very neat' or 'well organized'.