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22 Apple Idioms And Phrases (Meaning & Examples)

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Are you looking for some useful apple idioms to enhance your day-to-day English conversation?

If so, you have come to the right place.

In this post, we are going to look at 22 Apple Idioms, what they mean and how to use them.

Let’s get started.

apple idioms

22 Apple Idioms And Phrases (Meaning & Examples)

1. Alley Apple

  • Meaning #1: A piece of manure.
  • Use In A Sentence#1: The biggest complaint about the carriage tours is all the alley apples the horses leave behind.
  • Meaning #2: a brick or stone found in the street.
  • Use In A Sentence #2: I really hurt my toe kicking that stupid alley apple.

2. An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

  • Meaning: an expression that is often used to emphasize the importance of eating fruits and vegetables regularly.
  • Use In A Sentence: Well, you know what they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. So, if you don’t want to be sick in bed all of the time, I suggest, you eat more fruit and vegetables.

3. The Apple Of My Eye

  • Meaning: used to describe a person that you cherish or favor.
  • Use In A Sentence: Dave has many grandchildren, but Amy is his only granddaughter. No wonder she is apple of his eye.

4. Apple Pie Order

  • Meaning: to be in a neat or well-organized state.
  • Use In A Sentence: Jack keeps all his paperwork in an apple pie order.

5. Like Comparing Apples To Oranges

  • Meaning: making an unfair comparison or comparing to things that are not similar at all.
  • Use In A Sentence: Comparing the way those two companies operate is like comparing apples to oranges. They are completely different.

6. To Be American As Apple Pie

  • Meaning: to live a life that is often stereotypically American
  • Use In A Sentence: Watching Football on Sunday is as American as apple pie.

7. Green Apple Quickstep

  • Meaning: diarrhea.
  • Use In A Sentence: Be careful not to drink water when traveling abroad otherwise you could have a case of the green apple quickstep.

8. How Do You Like Them Apples?

  • Meaning: often it is used after a recent triumph to express that one’s idea is superior. It can also be used after a statement to convey the idea that you are not going to change and the person has to accept it.
  • Use In A Sentence: Well, I am not going to Julie’s house on Wednesday. In fact, I just scheduled an appointment for Wednesday, how do you like them apples?
apple idioms

9. To Mix Apples And Oranges

  • Meaning: to compare two different things.
  • Use In A Sentence: You can’t compare living in the United States with living in Ecuador. That is like mixing apples and oranges.

10. Road Apple

  • Meaning: horse manure.
  • Use In A Sentence: Many people were upset about the horse-drawn carriages because they left a trail of road apples wherever they went.

11. One Smart Apple

  • Meaning: used to describe a smart or clever person.
  • Use In A Sentence: Riley always did great on the final exams. “That boy is one smart apple,” the teacher said, ” he is going to go places.”

12. She’s Apples

  • Meaning: used to say that everything is okay and there is nothing to worry about.
  • Use In A Sentence: How’s your car running these days? She’s apples for now, but I think I might sell it sooner than later.

13. The Apple Never Falls Far From The Tree

  • Meaning: used to describe it when a person behaves in a similar way to their family usually their parents.
  • Use In A Sentence: Did you hear that Mark’s son also wants to be a doctor? I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

14. As Sure As God Made Little Green Apples

  • Meaning: to express absolute certainty that something is going to happen.
  • Use In A Sentence: I am as sure as God made little green apples that he is going to regret buying that house.

15. To Upset The Applecart

  • Meaning: to ruin carefully laid out plans.
  • Use In A Sentence: I am not trying to upset the applecart, I just can’t do it on Tuesday. Could we do it another day?

16. Apple Of Discord

  • Meaning: something that causes unhappiness.
  • Use In A Sentence: What seems to be the apple of discord here? Why aren’t you two getting along?

17. Apple-Polisher

  • Meaning: a flatterer.
  • Use In A Sentence: James is always quick to help out the boss with any little thing. Jessica thinks he is just being a nice guy, but I think he is just an apple-polisher!
second bite of the apple

18. Second Bite Of The Apple

  • Meaning: to be given a second chance or opportunity to do something.
  • Use In A Sentence: Jerry’s first attempt at welding was a bust. Jim decided to give him a second bite of the apple, but this time he was going to show him exactly how to do it.

19. To Trade Off The Orchard For An Apple

  • Meaning: used to describe a person who instead of looking at the big picture is overly concerned about the small unimportant details.
  • Use In A Sentence: I know you are not happy about the advertisements, but don’t trade off the orchard for an apple. Try to look at the bigger picture.
idioms about apples

20. The Big Apple

  • Meaning: a nickname for New York City.
  • Use In A Sentence: On my first trip to the U.S. I want to visit the Big Apple, Los Angeles, Chicago and hopefully Miami.

21. A Wise Apple

  • Meaning: a person who has the reputation of being sarcastic.
  • Use In A Sentence: John really knows how to get on my nerves. He always has something smart to say. He is such a wise apple.

22. A Bad / Rotten Apple Spoils The Whole Bunch / Bushel / Barrel

  • Meaning: one bad thing could ruin everything. One negative person could affect the entire group.
  • Use In A Sentence: Ever since Billy has been hanging around Tommy he has changed, he is different. I guess a rotten apple spoils the whole bunch.

There you have it! 22 useful apple idioms. Which one is your favorite? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.