crab apple

(redirected from crab trees)
Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia.

crab·ap·ple

also crab apple (krăb′ăp′əl)

1. Any of several deciduous trees of the genus Malus, native to North America and Eurasia and having clusters of white, pink, or reddish flowers.

2. The small tart fruit of such a tree, sometimes used to make jelly and preserves.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

crab apple

crabapple

1. (Plants) any of several rosaceous trees of the genus Malus that have white, pink, or red flowers and small sour apple-like fruits

2. (Plants) the fruit of any of these trees, used to make jam

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

crab′ ap`ple

1. any of various small, tart, cultivated or wild varieties of apple, used for making jelly and preserves.

2. any tree bearing such fruit.

[1705–15]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	crab apple - any of numerous varieties of crab apples cultivated for their small acidic (usually bright red) fruit used for preserves or as ornamentals for their blossoms crabapple, cultivated crab apple crab apple, crabapple - small sour apple; suitable for preserving; "crabapples make a tangy jelly" apple tree - any tree of the genus Malus especially those bearing firm rounded edible fruits cherry apple, cherry crab, Malus baccata, Siberian crab, Siberian crab apple - Asian wild crab apple cultivated in many varieties for it small acid usually red fruit used for preserving Malus angustifolia, Southern crab apple, flowering crab - small tree or shrub of southeastern United States; cultivated as an ornamental for its rose-colored blossoms
	2.	crab apple - any of numerous wild apple trees usually with small acidic fruit wild apple, crabapple apple tree - any tree of the genus Malus especially those bearing firm rounded edible fruits Malus sylvestris, wild crab - wild crab apple native to Europe; a chief ancestor of cultivated apples American crab apple, garland crab, Malus coronaria - medium-sized tree of the eastern United States having pink blossoms and small yellow fruit Malus fusca, Oregon crab apple - small tree or shrub of western United States having white blossoms and tiny yellow or red fruit Iowa crab, Iowa crab apple, Malus ioensis, prairie crab, western crab apple - wild crab apple of western United States with fragrant pink flowers
	3.	crab apple - small sour apple; suitable for preserving; "crabapples make a tangy jelly" crabapple apple - fruit with red or yellow or green skin and sweet to tart crisp whitish flesh crab apple, crabapple, cultivated crab apple - any of numerous varieties of crab apples cultivated for their small acidic (usually bright red) fruit used for preserves or as ornamentals for their blossoms

Translations

mela selvatica

crab apple

n (= fruit) → Holzapfel m; (= tree) → Holzapfelbaum m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

crab apple

n (fruit) → mela selvatica; (tree) → melo selvatico

References in classic literature ?

She had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last.

View in context

Flowering crab trees in our yard also bloomed and looked beautiful as the rains came down.

Spring continues to make an impressive showing, as the dogwoods, lilacs and tuli

I have identified apple rust on crab trees, blueberry rust on blueberry bushes and even some sort of round ulcer on the more than 100-year-old ivy.