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
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.
“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
Yonder Cider in Wenatchee, Wash., takes inspiration from cocktails to create ciders such as the Greyhound-like Sunnyslope, with pink grapefruit and lemon verbena.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 25, 2025
The rate is even less for picking grapefruit, which pays $8 to $10 per 500-pound crate, according to the father and the two teens.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2025
A grapefruit tree that is one of a few in the UK growing outside of Kew Gardens has been granted additional protection.
From BBC • Aug. 8, 2025
My mother went on eating her half grapefruit with her special serrated spoon, and I looked back at Mrs. Baylor and caught her with her head bowed and smiling to herself.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
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.
