an apple a day
cliché A truncation of the proverb "an apple a day keeps the doctor away," meaning small, healthful everyday habits will help prevent medical problems in the future. People consider me eccentric for my insistence on going for a walk at dawn each morning, but an apple a day, as they say! A: "I try to exercise a little bit every day. An apple a day, you know!" B: "OK, that old saying is as untrue as it is annoying!" Have an apple for a snack, instead of those chips. You know what they say—"an apple a day" and all that.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
apple a day
A small preventive treatment wards off serious problems, as in He exercises regularly-an apple a day is his motto. This idiom shortens the proverb An apple a day keeps the doctor away, first cited about 1630.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.