hand fruit

hand fruit (countable and uncountable, plural hand fruits)

1. Fruit that are normally eaten from the hand, like apples or bananas.

   1887, F. A. Benson, “Table supplies and economics.”, in Good Housekeeping‎, volume 5, number 11, page 272:

   Dealers divide fruit into three sorts–hand fruit, table fruit, and preserving fruit. Hand fruit is that not particularly selected, but of a quality to be eaten from the hand; …

   2008, Heather Bauer, The Wall Street Diet‎, Hachette Books, →ISBN:

   For most people, hand fruit—a fruit that fits in your palm—is a good choice. Hand fruits include apples, oranges, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, or small bananas.