cherry crab
- noun
:
manzano silvestre
- The cherry crab tree in her backyard produced a bumper crop this year.
Examples
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Some gardeners plant cherry crab as an ornamental for its vibrant spring blossoms and red fruit.
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The cherry crab tree is in full bloom this spring.
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Jars of homemade jelly lined the shelves, each labeled with the words cherry crab.
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I love the tart flavor of cherry crabs in my jam.
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Some gardeners plant cherry crab trees for their acidic red fruits, ideal for making preserves.
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The cherry crab produces small, tart fruits that are often used in homemade jellies.
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She collected the tiny, red fruits from the cherry crab tree to make a delicious preserve.
Synonyms
1
4.5
A small sour apple or the tree that grows it often used to make jam
1
6.3
A small sour apple often used to make jelly or jam
A small wild apple tree from Asia grown for its sour fruit and white spring flowers
A small red apple that tastes tart and is used to make jam
A small tree that makes tart red apples used to make jam
A small hardy tree that makes sour red apples used for jam
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'cherry' and 'crab' literally would likely be confused because 'crab' normally denotes the crustacean; the intended sense is 'crab' as in 'crabapple' (a small sour fruit), which is not transparently the animal. The compound gives partial cues ('cherry' signals a small red fruit and noun–noun compounding often names varieties), so the meaning is only partially derivable unless the learner already knows 'crab' in the botanical sense.
Etymology
Cherry crab gets its name from the fruit: the tree's tiny, bright red apples look like little cherries but come from a crab apple tree. Because the fruit are very sour, people often cook them into 'jelly' or 'preserves', so cherry crab now means that small, tart apple and the tree that makes it.