Ap·ple n.
 1. The fleshy pome or fruit of a rosaceous tree (Pyrus malus) cultivated in numberless varieties in the temperate zones.
 Note: ☞ The European crab apple is supposed to be the original kind, from which all others have sprung.
 2. bot. Any tree genus Pyrus which has the stalk sunken into the base of the fruit; an apple tree.
 3. Any fruit or other vegetable production resembling, or supposed to resemble, the apple; as, apple of love, or love apple (a tomato), balsam apple, egg apple, oak apple.
 4. Anything round like an apple; as, an apple of gold.
 Note: Apple is used either adjectively or in combination; as, apple paper or apple-paper, apple-shaped, apple blossom, apple dumpling, apple pudding.
 Apple blight, an aphid which injures apple trees. See Blight, n.
 Apple borer Zool., a coleopterous insect (Saperda candida or Saperda bivittata), the larva of which bores into the trunk of the apple tree and pear tree.
 Apple brandy, brandy made from apples.
 Apple butter, a sauce made of apples stewed down in cider. --Bartlett.
 Apple corer, an instrument for removing the cores from apples.
 Apple fly Zool., any dipterous insect, the larva of which burrows in apples. Apple flies belong to the genera Drosophila and Trypeta.
 Apple midge Zool. a small dipterous insect (Sciara mali), the larva of which bores in apples.
 Apple of the eye, the pupil.
 Apple of discord, a subject of contention and envy, so called from the mythological golden apple, inscribed “For the fairest,” which was thrown into an assembly of the gods by Eris, the goddess of discord. It was contended for by Juno, Minerva, and Venus, and was adjudged to the latter.
 Apple of love, or Love apple, the tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum).
 Apple of Peru, a large coarse herb (Nicandra physaloides) bearing pale blue flowers, and a bladderlike fruit inclosing a dry berry.
 Apples of Sodom, a fruit described by ancient writers as externally of fair appearance but dissolving into smoke and ashes when plucked; Dead Sea apples. The name is often given to the fruit of Solanum Sodomæum, a prickly shrub with fruit not unlike a small yellow tomato.
 Apple sauce, stewed apples. [U. S.]
 Apple snail or Apple shell Zool., a fresh-water, operculated, spiral shell of the genus Ampullaria.
 Apple tart, a tart containing apples.
 Apple tree, a tree which naturally bears apples. See Apple, 2.
 Apple wine, cider.
 Apple worm Zool., the larva of a small moth (Carpocapsa pomonella) which burrows in the interior of apples. See Codling moth.
 Dead Sea Apple. (a) pl. Apples of Sodom.  Also Fig.  “To seek the Dead Sea apples of politics.” --S. B. Griffin. (b) A kind of gallnut coming from Arabia. See Gallnut.


 Crab n.
 1. Zool. One of the brachyuran Crustacea. They are mostly marine, and usually have a broad, short body, covered with a strong shell or carapace. The abdomen is small and curled up beneath the body.
 Note: ☞ The name is applied to all the Brachyura, and to certain Anomura, as the hermit crabs.  Formerly, it was sometimes applied to Crustacea in general. Many species are edible, the blue crab of the Atlantic coast being one of the most esteemed. The large European edible crab is Cancer padurus. Soft-shelled crabs are blue crabs that have recently cast their shells. See Cancer; also, Box crab, Fiddler crab, Hermit crab, Spider crab, etc., under Box, Fiddler. etc.
 2. The zodiacal constellation Cancer.
 3.  Bot. A crab apple; -- so named from its harsh taste.
 When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
 Then nightly sings the staring owl.   --Shak.
 4. A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree; a crabstick. [Obs.]
 5. Mech. (a) A movable winch or windlass with powerful gearing, used with derricks, etc. (b) A form of windlass, or geared capstan, for hauling ships into dock, etc. (c) A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn. (d) A claw for anchoring a portable machine.
 Calling crab. Zool. See Fiddler., n., 2.
 Crab apple, a small, sour apple, of several kinds; also, the tree which bears it; as, the European crab apple (Pyrus Malus var. sylvestris); the Siberian crab apple (Pyrus baccata); and the American (Pyrus coronaria).
 Crab grass. Bot. (a) A grass (Digitaria sanguinalis syn. Panicum sanguinalis); -- called also finger grass. (b) A grass of the genus Eleusine (Eleusine Indica); -- called also dog's-tail grass, wire grass, etc.
 Crab louse Zool., a species of louse (Phthirius pubis), sometimes infesting the human body.
 Crab plover Zool., an Asiatic plover (Dromas ardeola).
 Crab's eyes, or Crab's stones, masses of calcareous matter found, at certain seasons of the year, on either side of the stomach of the European crawfishes, and formerly used in medicine for absorbent and antacid purposes; the gastroliths.
 Crab spider Zool., one of a group of spiders (Laterigradæ); -- called because they can run backwards or sideways like a crab.
 Crab tree, the tree that bears crab applies.
 Crab wood, a light cabinet wood obtained in Guiana, which takes a high polish. --McElrath.
 To catch a crab Naut., a phrase used of a rower: (a) when he fails to raise his oar clear of the water; (b) when he misses the water altogether in making a stroke.