sorb apple
- noun
- UK
:
manzana sorba
- The gritty texture of a fresh sorb apple makes it quite distinct from other fruits.
Examples
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The children picked a ripe sorb apple from the old tree in the orchard.
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Because of its tart flavor, the sorb apple is sometimes used to make preserves and jams.
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The sorb apple is quite tart.
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Many people enjoy the flavor of sorb apples.
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The children picked a ripe sorb apple from the old tree in the orchard.
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Because of its tart flavor, the sorb apple is sometimes used to make preserves and jams.
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The gritty texture of a fresh sorb apple makes it quite distinct from other fruits.
Synonyms
A small hard sour fruit that grows on a wild European tree
How Acidic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase names a type of apple-like fruit formed compositionally from 'sorb' (a tart fruit from Sorbus trees) + 'apple', so the overall meaning — an apple/fruit associated with the sorb tree — follows directly from the constituents. This kind of noun-noun compounding is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern and would be interpretable by a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Sorb apple is the small, tart 'fruit' that grows on the sorb tree. The name joins sorb, the tree name, and apple, a word once used for 'fruit', so it describes a small, apple-like fruit with a gritty texture.