apple sauce

Thân thiện

A child eats apple sauce from a small bowl at the kitchen table.

Definition

Noun: 1. A sweetened and spiced puree made from stewed apples: A soft, cooked mixture of apples, typically with added sugar and spices like cinnamon, served as a side dish or condiment. 2. (Slang, chiefly US, dated) Nonsense, foolish talk: Insincere or ridiculous statements; empty flattery or lies.

Usage

Apple sauce is primarily used as a mass noun to refer to the food item. It is commonly served with pork, pancakes, or as a simple dessert. In its slang sense, it functions as an uncountable noun expressing disbelief or dismissal of what someone has said.

Examples

• Literal meaning (food):
  • For dinner, we had roast pork with apple sauce.
  • She made homemade apple sauce from the apples in her garden.
• Slang meaning (nonsense):
  • "I'll double your money in a week!" "Ah, that's just apple sauce."
  • Don't give me that apple sauce; tell me the truth.

Advanced Usage

• The slang usage is considered old-fashioned and is rarely used in modern conversation. It was more common in early to mid-20th century American English.
• The term can be used as an exclamation of disbelief: " You expect me to believe that?"

Variants and Related Words

• Applesauce: The most common spelling, often written as one word.
• Stewed apples: A simpler, less specific term for cooked apples, which may or may not be pureed or sweetened.

Synonyms

• For the food: stewed apples, apple puree.
• For the slang: baloney, bunk, claptrap, drivel, hogwash, malarkey, nonsense, poppycock, rubbish.

Idioms and Phrases

• (To be) full of applesauce: To be talking nonsense.
  • His excuses for being late were full of applesauce.

Học thuật

Noun

1. puree of stewed apples usually sweetened and spiced

Từ đồng nghĩa

• applesauce