wild apple
1
4.6
- noun
- /waɪld ˈæpəl/
:
manzano silvestre
- You'd be lucky to find a sweet wild apple tree untouched by Johnny Appleseed.
- wild apple tree
Examples
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The old orchard was home to many varieties of wild apples that had not been cultivated for years.
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Wild apples vary tremendously in size, shape, color, and taste.
Blog text (29) -
They spent 22 days collecting wild apples in areas where Western scientists have never explored before.
Academic text (1994) -
The best bet for finding genetic resistance lies in the seeds of the wild apples that Agricultural Research Service scientist Philip L. Forsline and his fellow explorers have found in the mountains.
Academic text (1994) -
I spent most of Sunday not cleaning the house (very much needed) or weeding the garden (also needed) but rather collecting wild apples with friends Harriet and Jim, washing and then cooking them up into what I call Apple Butter Sauce.
Blog text (29) -
I indulge in fruit as people have since at least the Neolithic era, when they wandered gathering wild apples, pears, plums, and cherries.
Fiction book (1999) -
Damaged remnants of fieldstone fences limp through the trees: maple and cherry, oak and poplar, hemlock, beech, and the wild apples.
Fiction book (1998) -
The forest was full of wild apples that were small and tart, perfect for making cider.
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In the autumn, we picked wild apples from the trees growing along the hiking trails.
Synonyms
21
1.0
A tree that grows round sweet fruits called apples
1
5.1
A small wild apple tree that has small sour fruit
1
9.1
A small apple tree that grows from seed without being planted or cared for
A small apple tree from Europe that is a main ancestor of the apples we grow
Antonyms
How Organic
1
4.6
1
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an apple that grows naturally without cultivation' is directly and compositionally derived from 'wild' (growing naturally) + 'apple' (the fruit/tree). This adjective + noun combination follows a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The noun wild apple names an apple that grows wild by itself in hedges, woods, or fields rather than being 'planted' by people. Because these trees often have small, tart fruit and spread on their own, wild apple now means an apple tree or fruit that is 'not grown on a farm'.