grapefruit
Americannoun
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grapefruits
plural
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a large, roundish, yellow-skinned, edible citrus fruit having a juicy, acid pulp.
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the tropical or semitropical tree, Citrus paradisi, yielding this fruit.
noun
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a tropical or subtropical cultivated evergreen rutaceous tree, Citrus paradisi
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the large round edible fruit of this tree, which has yellow rind and juicy slightly bitter pulp
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of grapefruit
1805–15; grape + fruit, apparently from the resemblance of its clusters to those of grapes
Explanation
A grapefruit is a large citrus fruit that grows on a tree. Ripe grapefruits are very slightly sour, juicy, and delicious. The first grapefruits were an accident — they came from an inadvertent cross between an orange and a pomelo. Both of those species are native to Asia, but the grapefruit's accidental invention happened in Barbados some time in the 18th century. The name comes from the way the fruit clusters on the tree, close together like grapes, rather than its taste, which is a mixture of sweetness and acidity.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There are also around 16 fruit trees on the property—including orange, tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, and lime trees—as well as a brick-enclosed vegetable garden.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
The liqueur has a touch of sweetness that counters the tart grapefruit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Kylie Minogue popped into the interview, posing as a barmaid and serving Madonna a grapefruit cocktail.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Ono’s very first “Wish Tree” — a baby grapefruit tree planted in a wooden box — was shown in 1996 at Santa Monica’s Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Bergamot Station.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
I think in the first year we sold a grand total of one grapefruit.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
Ayelet Kohn and Shachar Shnurman harvested the grapefruits this month - a defiant act of normality amid the burnt-out remains of their neighbours' homes.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2024
And because he couldn’t afford a soccer ball, he learned to play on the streets using grapefruits or cloth stuffed with newspapers and bound with string.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2022
I’m just kind of laughing along and then I’ll remember, “Oh, wait, I tweeted about grapefruits a couple of weeks ago.”
From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2021
Of course, other citrus is just as dreamy: Limes, grapefruits, and tangerines are a few of my faves.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2021
The grapefruits weighed on the branches, huge and round, dark green speckled yellow.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
