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.
See Examples For:
Finish with 50ml of prosecco and top up with grapefruit soda, to taste.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
Bottle bio: A medium-bodied wine from Montevideo, Uruguay, with aromas of citrus blossom, grapefruit, white flowers and tropical fruits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
We had a grapefruit tree and a plum tree, and a dirt yard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
“I’ll do a long twist of lemon, lime and either orange or grapefruit and braid them together, like you’re braiding hair,” Caporale says.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2026
When she was small, Naomi would snuggle into bed beside her mother, taking in the smell of her skin, tangy like grapefruit.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
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
Of course, other citrus is just as dreamy: Limes, grapefruits, and tangerines are a few of my faves.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2021
Some bubbles grew as big as grapefruits, visibly lifting the water’s surface several inches and carrying up bits of mud from below.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 24, 2018
“If you’re not enjoying the opera,” said Werfel, “there is no reason to keep sitting here like a couple of grapefruits rotted to the shelf.”
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
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.
