an apple a day keeps the doctor away

an apple a day keeps the doctor away

Eating healthy foods will keep one from getting sick (and needing to see a doctor). Primarily heard in US. Have an apple for a snack, instead of those chips. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, after all. A: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" B: "OK, that saying is as untrue as it is annoying!" People consider me eccentric for my insistence on going for a walk at dawn each morning, but an apple a day keeps the doctor away, as they say!
See also: an, apple, away, doctor, keep
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Prov. Apples are so nutritious that if you eat an apple every day, you will not ever need to go to a doctor. Remember to take an apple in your lunch today. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Grandma always fed us lots of apples when we visited her. She believed that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
See also: an, apple, away, doctor, keep
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

an apple a day (keeps the doctor away)

A proverbial preventive remedy. Versions of this saying date from the seventeenth century or earlier, appearing in John Ray’s proverb collection of 1670 and elsewhere. A cliché by the late nineteenth century, it gave rise to numerous humorous versions, such as “A stanza a day to keep the wolf away” by the poet Phyllis McGinley.
See also: an, apple, doctor
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
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