Definition of apron

< a priori

apron string >

a·pron    (prn) KEY 

NOUN:

1. 1. A garment, usually fastened in the back, worn over all or part of the front of the body to protect clothing.
   2. Something, such as a protective shield for a machine, that resembles this garment in appearance or function.
2. The paved strip in front of and around airport hangars and terminal buildings.
3. The part of a stage in a theater extending in front of the curtain.
4. A platform, as of planking, at the entrance to a dock.
5. 1. A covering or structure along a shoreline for protection against erosion.
   2. A platform serving a similar purpose below a dam or in a sluiceway.
6. A continuous conveyor belt.
7. An area covered by sand and gravel deposited at the front of a glacial moraine.
8. A border of slightly longer grass that surrounds a green on a golf course.
9. The part of a boxing ring floor that extends beyond the ropes.

TRANSITIVE VERB:
a·proned, a·pron·ing, a·prons

To cover, protect, or provide with an apron.

---

ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from an apron, alteration of a napron, from Old French naperon, diminutive of nape, tablecloth, from Latin mappa, napkin ; see map