crabapple

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small, hard, sour apple borne by a wild or ornamental apple tree

   Huck and Jim decided to leave the unripe crabapples alone.

2. 2
   noun

   any of various wild or ornamental apple trees, especially species of the genus Malus that bear small fruit

   The crabapple covered the garden path with pink blossoms each spring.

From crab, an old name for a wild apple, + apple. Crab may refer to the fruit's harsh, sour taste; the trees are now grown both for fruit and for ornamental blossom.

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