grapefruit
Americannoun
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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.
As a result, Skubal worked 4 ⅔ innings in a Grapefruit League game in Dunedin, Fla., on Saturday.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
Grapefruit trees in the UK typically fruit once a year, with ripening taking up to 12 months after flowering in late spring or summer.
From BBC • Aug. 8, 2025
Burnes worked one scoreless inning for the Baltimore Orioles and struck out the first two batters he faced Saturday in the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner’s Grapefruit League debut.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 24, 2024
Nevertheless, the grumbling across the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues got loud enough for the Major League Baseball Players Assn. to express dismay.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2024
On March 17, they gave it another shot, and this time orbited a 3.24-pound satellite nicknamed Grapefruit.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
