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a garment covering part of the front of the body and tied at the waist, for protecting the wearer’s clothing:
a kitchen apron.
Anglican Church. a similar garment extending to the knees, worn by bishops, deans, and archdeans.
a metal plate or cover, usually vertical, for a machine, mechanism, artillery piece, etc., for protecting those who operate it.
a continuous conveyor belt for bulk materials, consisting of a chain of steel plates.
(in a lathe) a part of the carriage holding the clutches and gears moving the toolholder.
a paved or hard-packed area abutting an airfield’s buildings and hangars, where planes are parked, loaded, or the like.
a broad paved area used for parking cars, as at the end of a driveway.
Civil Engineering.

any device for protecting a surface of earth, as a riverbank, from the action of moving water.
a platform to receive the water falling over a dam.

the part of a stage floor in front of the curtain line.
Furniture. (def 6).
the outer border of a green of a golf course.
the part of the floor of a boxing ring that extends outside the ropes.
Also called skirt. a flat, broad piece of interior window trim immediately beneath the sill.
a strip of metal set into masonry and bent down to cover the upper edge of flashing; counterflashing.
the open part of a pier for loading and unloading vessels.
Nautical. (in a wooden vessel) a piece reinforcing the stem on the after side and leading down to the deadwood.
Geology. a deposit of gravel and sand at the base of a mountain or extending from the edges of a glacier.
the frill of long hairs on the throat and chest of certain long-haired dogs, as the collie.
a structure erected around another structure, as for reinforcement or decoration:
a high fence surrounded by a wire apron buried in the ground.
to put an apron on; furnish with an apron.
to surround in the manner of an apron:
The inner city is aproned by low-cost housing.
Contemporary Examples

A Chinese mountaineer held a green raincoat over his waist like an apron, covering his nakedness.
Death on Killer Mountain Amanda Padoan July 5, 2013

A housekeeper came out to buy some, wiping her hands on her apron.
Mexico City’s Magical Moment of Resurgence Condé Nast Traveler February 9, 2014

An office manager, he says, was wearing an apron with Santa on it.
A Field General in the War on Christmas David Freedlander December 23, 2014

Children or those acting like them will tug at heart or apron stings.
What the Stars Hold for Your Week Starsky + Cox July 29, 2011

[Guitarist] Andy Taylor donned an apron and worked in the kitchen, cooking up the locally famous club chili.
Eight Best Bits of John Taylor’s Duran Duran Tell-All Tom Sykes October 20, 2012

Historical Examples

Use the large square for the skirt of the apron and the small square for the bib.
Little Folks’ Handy Book Lina Beard

Tillie, at Mrs. McKee’s, stood in the doorway and fanned herself with her apron.
K Mary Roberts Rinehart

I did have longings to cuddle them in my apron and I did want to take them down to the brook.
The Story of Opal Opal Whiteley

Dilly got briskly up and gathered a drawer-full of papers into her apron.
Tiverton Tales Alice Brown

She was sitting on a stone, holding a corner of her apron to her eyes, and sobbing.
My Neighbor Raymond (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume XI) Charles Paul de Kock

noun
a protective or sometimes decorative or ceremonial garment worn over the front of the body and tied around the waist
the part of a stage extending in front of the curtain line; forestage
a hard-surfaced area in front of or around an aircraft hangar, terminal building, etc, upon which aircraft can stand
a continuous conveyor belt composed usually of slats linked together
a protective plate screening the operator of a machine, artillery piece, etc
a ground covering of concrete or other material used to protect the underlying earth from water erosion
a panel or board between a window and a skirting in a room
(geology) a sheet of sand, gravel, etc, deposited at the front of a moraine
(golf) the part of the fairway leading onto the green
(machinery) the housing for the lead screw gears of a lathe
another name for skirt (sense 3)
tied to someone’s apron strings, dependent on or dominated by someone, esp a mother or wife
verb
(transitive) to protect or provide with an apron
n.

mid-15c., faulty separation (cf. adder, umpire) of a napron (c.1300), from Old French naperon “small table-cloth,” diminutive of nappe “cloth,” from Latin mappa “napkin.” Napron was still in use as recently as late 16c. The shift of Latin -m- to -n- was a tendency in Old French (e.g. conter from computare, printemps from primum, natte “mat, matting,” from matta). Symbolic of “wife’s business” from 1610s. Apron-string tenure was in reference to property held in virtue of one’s wife, or during her lifetime only.

Even at his age, he ought not to be always tied to his mother’s apron string. [Anne Brontë, “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,” 1848]

apron
(ā’prən)
An area covered by a blanketlike deposit of glacial, eolian, marine, or alluvial sediments, especially an area at the foot of a mountain or in front of a glacier.

found in the Authorized Version in Gen. 3:7, of the bands of fig-leaves made by our first parents. In Acts 19:12, it denotes the belt or half-girdle worn by artisans and servants round the waist for the purpose of preserving the clothing from injury. In marg. of Authorized Version, Ruth 3:15, correctly rendered instead of “vail.” (R.V., “mantle.”)