a tropical American plant bearing a large fleshy edible fruit with a terminal tuft of stiff leaves; widely cultivated in the tropics
"The gardener admired the pineapple growing on its mother plant, noting how the terminal tuft of stiff green leaves crowned the large, yellowish fruit."
A tropical plant, Ananas comosus, native to South America, having thirty or more long, spined and pointed leaves surrounding a thick stem.
"The gardener carefully removed the outer layer of broad, spined leaves from the pineapple to reveal its thick central stem."
In plain English: A pineapple is a sweet, spiky fruit with golden-yellow skin and juicy yellow flesh inside that people often eat as dessert or put on pizza.
"She added slices of pineapple to her breakfast smoothie for extra sweetness and color."
Usage: Use the singular form "pineapple" when referring to the fruit itself, while reserving the plural for multiple fruits or the botanical species. Avoid using it as a verb in standard English, unlike some other culinary terms such as "to garlic."
Originally meaning a pinecone, the word pineapple entered English from Middle English to describe the fruit's resemblance to that seed cluster. The term was later applied specifically to the tropical plant because its spiky exterior looks like a pinecone.