Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bite at the apple

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.18 in modern English

Syllables
bite at the ap-ple
IPA
23
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Synonym of bite of the cherry.

American usage

Etymology

The bite at the cherry form is the original. By the 1940s, cherry had taken on the additional meaning of "virginity" and the phrase was considered embarrassing, and so "apple" replaced "cherry" in American usage. The first recorded use of the "apple" form is in 1922.

Usage

Inflected Forms

bites at the apple (plural)

Synonyms

bite of the cherry

Questions

What does bite at the apple mean?
Synonym of bite of the cherry.
Where does bite at the apple come from?
The bite at the cherry form is the original. By the 1940s, cherry had taken on the additional meaning of "virginity" and the phrase was considered embarrassing, and so "apple" replaced "cherry" in American usage. The first recorded use of the "apple" form is in 1922.

How to pronounce bite at the apple

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  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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