an apple a day keeps the doctor away
Syllables: an ap·ple a day keeps the doc·tor awayUK/əˈn‿æpəl‿ə ˈdeɪ ˈkiːps ðə ˈdɒktəɹ‿əˈweɪ//əˈn‿æpəl‿ə ˈdeɪ ˈkips ðə ˈdɑktɚ əˈweɪ/
an apple a day keeps the doctor away proverb: apples are healthy and stave off illnesses.
Proverb
an apple a day keeps the doctor away
- Apples are healthy and stave off illnesses.
- Now, an apple is one of the most wonderful of fruits, and the most wholesome. The old adage went, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," and my young son, three years ago, when he was only three years old, came to me with an amendment to that and said: "Father, two apples a day keeps the dentist...1919 August 26, Harvey W[ashington] Wiley (witness), “Statement of Dr. Harvey W. Wiley—Resumed”, in Cold-storage Legislation: Hearings before the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives...
- Of course I eat an apple every evening—an apple a day keeps the doctor away—but still, you ought to have more prunes, and not all these fancy doodads.1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter I, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, section IV, page 11
- Healthy eating prevents illness.
- He advocated the increased use of fruit, for he believed in the old saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."1887 November 26, “The Pomological Show”, in The Wrexham Advertiser, and North Wales News, volume XL, Wrexham, Clwyd: Selina Bayley, Charles George Bayley, and George Bradley, →OCLC, page 5, column 6
- The old adage, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away," might quite as well have read "a carrot or an onion a day," and probably the result would be about the same as regards reducing the doctor's bill. Vegetables of all kinds are necessary in the diet, but particularly valuable are those available...1921 June 3, “Vegetables are cheap for food”, in Frank F. Prescott, editor, Weymouth Gazette and Transcript, volume LV, number 22 (number 2882 overall), Weymouth, Mass.: Gazette and Transcript...
an apple a day keeps the doctor away meaning in Arabic
an apple a day keeps the doctor away in Arabic
- apples are healthy and stave off illnesses
- تُفَّاحَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ فِي الْيَوْمِ تُغْنِيكَ عَنْ زِيَارَةِ الطَّبِيبِ tuffāḥatun wāḥidatun fī l-yawmi tuḡnīka ʕan ziyārati ṭ-ṭabībi
Examples of an apple a day keeps the doctor away in a sentence
- The saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" is often countered with the one "an onion a day keeps everybody away".1984, Louise E. Efnor, “Kill or Cure”, in Jerrilee Cain-Tyson, John E. Hallwas, Victor Hicken, editors, Tales from Two Rivers III (A...
- an apple a day keeps the doctor away—an apple is nutritious and you will stay healthy if you eat one every day.2000 January, “Phrases from the Garden”, in Melvia A. Hasman, editor, English Teaching Forum: A Journal for the Teacher outside the United...
- An old saying in Western countries goes, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away", so now there is a new saying in China, "A sea cucumber a day keeps the doctor away".2004, Jiaxin Chen, “Present Status and Prospects of Sea Cucumber Industry in China”, in Alessandro Lovatelli, Chantal Conand, et al....
Forms of an apple a day keeps the doctor away
| alternative form | an apple a day keeps the doctor at bay |
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Origin of an apple a day keeps the doctor away
Of British origin; a similar proverb was recorded from Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 1866: “Eat an apple on going to bed, / And you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread.” However, the idea that apples can cure disease is much older. In the play The Soddered Citizen (first performed c. 1631–1633) by the English author John Clavell (1601–1643), it is suggested that if a person who had heartburn had taken an apple and gone to bed, he would have been cured.
Words formed from an apple a day keeps the doctor away
Words that rhyme with an apple a day keeps the doctor away
Questions about an apple a day keeps the doctor away
- What does an apple a day keeps the doctor away mean?
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away means apples are healthy and stave off illnesses.
- What is an apple a day keeps the doctor away in Arabic?
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away in Arabic is تُفَّاحَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ فِي الْيَوْمِ تُغْنِيكَ عَنْ زِيَارَةِ الطَّبِيبِ (tuffāḥatun wāḥidatun fī l-yawmi tuḡnīka ʕan ziyārati ṭ-ṭabībi). See An apple a day keeps the doctor away meaning in Arabic.
- How do you use an apple a day keeps the doctor away in a sentence?
- The saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" is often countered with the one "an onion a day keeps everybody away".
- What part of speech is an apple a day keeps the doctor away?
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away is a proverb.
- How do you pronounce an apple a day keeps the doctor away?
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away is pronounced /əˈn‿æpəl‿ə ˈdeɪ ˈkiːps ðə ˈdɒktəɹ‿əˈweɪ/ (UK).
Words near an apple a day keeps the doctor away in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: an apple a day keeps the doctor away (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-an apple a day keeps the doctor away.oga.
Cite this entry: “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/an_apple_a_day_keeps_the_doctor_away. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
