pineapple

IPA/ˈpaɪnæpl/
KK[pˈaɪnˌæpəl]IPA/ˈpaɪnæpl/

pineapple — noun

  • pineapplesingular
  • pineapplesplural

1. a large sweet fruit that grows in hot countries; it has a tough orange-brown ski

1.nounA2
Definition

a large sweet fruit that grows in hot countries; it has a tough orange-brown skin covered with diamond-shaped bumps, sharp green leaves on top, and bright yellow juicy flesh inside.

Example

Lina sliced a fresh pineapple for breakfast on the patio in Phuket.

countable: a pineapple (the whole fruit)

Pineapple cake is the most famous souvenir Marcus brought home from Taipei.

compound noun: pineapple cake

Common collocations
  • fresh pineapple
  • tinned/canned pineapple
  • pineapple chunks
  • pineapple juice
  • pineapple cake
  • ripe pineapple
  • slice a pineapple
Synonyms
  • ananas

    the older botanical name, rarely used in everyday English but common in many other European languages

Grammar Patterns

a/an pineapple (whole fruit)

pineapple (uncountable for the flesh or juice)

Usage Note

Countable when talking about whole fruits ('two pineapples'), uncountable when talking about the flesh or juice as food ('a slice of pineapple', 'pineapple juice'). Often forms compounds: pineapple cake, pineapple juice, pineapple pizza.

Common Mistakes

I bought a pineapple juice at the store.
I bought some pineapple juice at the store.
juice is uncountable, so use 'some' or 'a bottle of', not 'a'.
She ate two pineapple yesterday.
She ate two pineapples yesterday.
when counting whole fruits, add the plural -s.
Idioms

the rough end of the pineapple

idiom

Being treated badly or unfairly in a situation.

Maya got the rough end of the pineapple when her boss blamed her for the mistake.

Did Diego get the rough end of the pineapple in that deal?

Word family

Common collocations

Nouns

  • pineapple juice
  • pineapple cake
  • pineapple chunks
  • pineapple ring
  • pineapple plantation
  • pineapple jam

Phrases

  • a slice of pineapple
  • a tin of pineapple
  • fresh pineapple
  • ripe pineapple

Prepositions

  • pineapple in syrup
  • pineapple on pizza
  • pineapple from Taiwan

Etymology

Middle EnglishTupi (via Spanish/Portuguese contact)Modern English

Originally an English word for the cone of a pine tree, recorded from around 1400 because the cone looks rough and scaly. When European explorers met the tropical fruit in the Americas in the 1660s, they reused the same word because the new fruit reminded them of a pine cone covered in tough scales. The pine-cone meaning has now faded, and today the word almost always means the fruit. Many other languages still call it 'ananas', from the Tupi (Brazilian) word 'nanas'.