ETYM Old Eng. appel, eppel, as. aeppel, aepl; akin to Fries. and Dutch appel, ohg, aphul, aphol, German apfel, Icel. epli, Swed. äple, Dan. aeble, Gael. ubhall, w. afal, Arm. aval, Lith. obulys, Russ. iabloko; of unknown origin.
1. Fruit with red or yellow or green skin and sweet to tart crisp whitish flesh.
2. Native Eurasian tree widely cultivated in many varieties for its firm rounded edible fruits; SYN. orchard apple tree, Malus pumila.
Fruit of Malus pumila, a tree of the family Rosaceae.
There are several hundred varieties of cultivated apples, grown all over the world, which may be divided into eating, cooking, and cider apples. All are derived from the wild crab apple.
Apple trees grow best in temperate countries with a cool climate and plenty of rain during the winter. The apple has been an important food plant in Eurasia for thousands of years.
The continents of Europe and North America (both the us and Canada) are the main sources of supply, but apples are also produced in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and some parts of Asia. Modern commercial orchards are limited to few species, with trees of “dwarf” growth (2 m/6 ft high), planted 1 meter apart, for ease and speed of picking by machine.
In 1989 the us apple industry announced it was discontinuing the use of daminozide, a chemical used to ripen apples and make them crisper. Reports indicated that the chemical caused cancer, and that 15% of all apples grown in the us contained the chemical.

Any of various apples considered inappropriate for consumption raw (either because of appearance or tartness) but which are suited for baking.

Unripe apple.

The projection formed by the thyroid cartilage in the neck. It is particularly prominent in males, and is so called from a notion that it was caused by the forbidden fruit (an apple) sticking in the throat of Adam (Biblical).

(Classical mythology) A golden apple thrown into a banquet of the gods by Eris; the apple was addressed 'to the fairest,' and Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all claimed it; Paris awarded it to Aphrodite, causing the Trojan War.

ETYM Spanish patata potato, batata sweet potato, from the native American name (probably batata) in Hayti.
Perennial plant Solanum tuberosum, family Solanaceae, with edible tuberous roots that are rich in starch. Used by the Andean Indians for at least 2,000 years before the Spanish Conquest, the potato was introduced to Europe by the mid-16th century, and reputedly to England by the explorer Walter Raleigh.
In Ireland, the potato famine in 1845, caused by a parasitic fungus, resulted in many thousands of deaths from starvation, and led to large-scale emigration to the US.
See also sweet potato under yam.
A potato genetically engineered to produce its own pesticide was awaiting final approval for commercial growth May 1995. Researchers added the gene for Bt toxin, a natural pesticide produced by a soil bacterium, into a potato plant. The plant now produces Bt within its leaves. Bt is one of the safest pesticides available—it leaves many beneficial insects unharmed, and breaks down quickly in the environment without leaving a harmful residue—but many scientists fear the commercial growth of this potato will lead to increased pesticide resistance.(Irregular plural: potatoes).
1. An edible tuber native to South America; a staple food of Ireland; SYN. white potato, Irish potato, murphy, spud, tater.
2. Annual native to South America having underground stolons bearing edible starchy tubers; widely cultivated as a garden vegetable; vines are poisonous; SYN. white potato, white potato vine, Solanum tuberosum.

Potato, white potato, white potato vine