Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
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noun
A chance; an attempt at something, especially something that can or should only be done once.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: bite at the cherry, bite at the apple, bite of the apple
Antonyms: none provided
History
A cherry is a small fruit usually eaten in a single bite, and the phrase was originally intended to refer specifically to an attempt to repeat an already-completed action. By the 1940s, cherry had taken on the additional meaning of "virginity" and the phrase was considered embarrassing, and so "apple" replaced "cherry" chiefly in American usage. As an apple is usually eaten in many bites, the additional nuance of "an unrepeatable action" was increasingly lost. The first recorded use of the "apple" form is in 1922.
