Dictionary

mountain apple en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌmaʊntən ˈæpəl/ (General-American)

Meanings

1. (Hawaii, especially) The Malay apple or pommerac (Syzygium malaccense).
   • Mountain apple, or ʻōhi'a ʻai, was one of the twenty-four “canoe plants” brought to Hawaiʻi by Polynesian voyagers over 1,500 years ago. 2014, Derek Kurisu, “Honoring the Family of KTA Super Stores”, in Aiko Yamashiro, Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, editors, The Value of Hawaiʻi 2: Ancestral Roots, Oceanic Visions, Biographical Research Center, →ISBN, page 78:
   • Fresh breezes sweep down the mountains, laden with the perfumes of the orange, the banana, pine-apple, and mountain apple trees […] 1861, chapter XXV, in Ira Jones, Life and Adventure in the South Pacific, New York: Harper & Brothers, page 324:
   • The mountain apple is very refreshing to eat because of the large amount of water present and the delicate flavor. It is most frequently eaten out of hand, but may be cut up and used in salads and cocktails. 1936 January 14, Casey D. Miller, Katherine Bazore, Ruth C. Robbins, Some Fruits of Hawaii: Their Composition, Nutritive Value and Use (Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletins; 77), University of Hawaii, United States Department of Agriculture, page 55:
   • The mountain apple juice is mouthwateringly delicious.
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see mountain, apple.

Forms