Word.ws English Dictionary

apple-pie order

apple-pie order noun: a neat and tidy arrangement or organization; a perfect order.

Noun

apple-pie order (uncountable)

  1. (colloquial, dated) A neat and tidy arrangement or organization; a perfect order.
    • And he was devoted to his books, which were in apple-pie order.1902, Joseph Conrad, “Heart of Darkness”, in Youth: A Narrative: And Two Other Stories, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and sons, →OCLC, part I, page 77
    • He was made welcome...and was able before retiring to rest to arrange his materials for work in apple-pie order upon a commodious table which occupied the outer end of the room...1904, M.R. James, Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad

Origin of apple-pie order

Unknown. First recorded in 1780 in the sea journal of an Englishman. There are two mainstream theories as to its origin, although there is no evidence for either: * French cap-à-pied (“head to foot”) * French nappe pliée (“folded linen”) The proposed nappe pliée fits more closely with the date of first attestation.

Questions about apple-pie order

What does apple-pie order mean?
Apple-pie order means a neat and tidy arrangement or organization; a perfect order.
What part of speech is apple-pie order?
Apple-pie order is a noun.

Words near apple-pie order in the dictionary

  1. apple-mush
  2. apple-of-Peru
  3. apple-pie
  4. apple-pie bed
  5. apple-pie beds
  6. apple-pie order
  7. apple-pied
  8. apple-pieing
  9. apple-pies
  10. apple-plum
  11. apple-plums

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: apple-pie order (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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