lemon
Americannoun
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lemons
plural
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the yellowish, acid fruit of a subtropical citrus tree, Citrus limon.
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the tree itself.
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Informal. a person or thing that proves to be defective, imperfect, or unsatisfactory; dud.
His car turned out to be a lemon.
adjective
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made of or with lemon.
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having the color, taste, or odor of lemon.
noun
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a small Asian evergreen tree, Citrus limon, widely cultivated in warm and tropical regions, having pale green glossy leaves and edible fruits
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the yellow oval fruit of this tree, having juicy acidic flesh rich in vitamin C
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( as modifier )
a lemon jelly
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Also called: lemon yellow.
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a greenish-yellow or strong yellow colour
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( as adjective )
lemon wallpaper
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a distinctive tart flavour made from or in imitation of the lemon
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slang a person or thing considered to be useless or defective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of lemon
1350–1400; 1905–10 lemon for def. 4; < Medieval Latin lemōnium; replacing Middle English lymon < Medieval Latin līmō, (stem līmōn- ) < Persian līmū, līmun
Explanation
A lemon is a sour yellow fruit. Squeeze one to make lemonade or add flavor to hot tea. Lemon is also what people call something that doesn’t work well, like a bum car. You can use the word lemon for the evergreen tree whose blossoms become bright yellow fruit, or for the fruit itself — or even the color of the fruit. Lemons are originally from Asia, but they also grow well in the Mediterranean, Florida, and California. They like sunny places. Informally, you can also use lemon to mean "an unsatisfactory or poorly made example of something," so you could say, "Most Volvos are great, but this car is a lemon."
Vocabulary lists containing lemon
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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:
It has lemon verbena, lemongrass, rose, hibiscus flower, tulsi and peppermint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
My stomach was in knots as I pictured myself clad in a lemon chiffon dress looking like a dollop of meringue, doing the Viennese waltz — something resembling a Centrum Silver commercial.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
She got something personal to her but declined to say what it was—except that it was neither a lemon nor a lime.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
The Reserve is more substantial, with flavors of lemon curd, white flowers and toasted nuts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The lemon scent, the photos, the flowers, the quietness of the night, and the swaying shadows combined to bring him back.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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And if management is able to make lemonade out of lemons then they can even be a great one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The lemons and candles Pochettino keeps in his office are manifestations of energia universal or universal energy, a foundational concept common to many Eastern philosophies that believe a fundamental life force connects all things.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Farmers arrived at dawn with tomatoes, gourds, chillies, lemons and melons.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
This is where I often find my weekly anchors: onions, lemons, sweet potatoes, greens.
From Salon ● May 22, 2026
She talked Jamaica, more song than words, and brought bitter tea to my mouth and made the world smell of lemons and told me to sleep.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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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.