= CRAB sb.2 1 and 2.

1

1712.  Arbuthnot, John Bull, III. ii. John had his golden pippins, peaches, and nectarines; poor Miss a crab-apple, sloe, or a blackberry.

2

1771.  Smollett, Humph. Cl. (1815), 244. I have often met with a crab-apple in a hedge.

3

1870.  H. Macmillan, Bible Teach., v. 100. The crab-apple and the sloe, the savage parents of our pippins and plums.

4

  b.  Also with qualifications, like CRAB sb.2 3, as in American Crab-apple (Pyrus coronaria), Oregon Crab-apple (P. rivularis).

5