lemon

American  

[lem-uhn] / ˈlɛm ən /

noun

• lemons
  plural

1. the yellowish, acid fruit of a subtropical citrus tree, Citrus limon.

2. the tree itself.

3. lemon yellow.

4. Informal. a person or thing that proves to be defective, imperfect, or unsatisfactory; dud.

   His car turned out to be a lemon.

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adjective

1. made of or with lemon.

2. having the color, taste, or odor of lemon.

lemon British  

/ ˈlɛmən /

noun

1. a small Asian evergreen tree, Citrus limon, widely cultivated in warm and tropical regions, having pale green glossy leaves and edible fruits

2. 1. the yellow oval fruit of this tree, having juicy acidic flesh rich in vitamin C

   2. ( as modifier )

      a lemon jelly

3. Also called: lemon yellow.

   1. a greenish-yellow or strong yellow colour

   2. ( as adjective )

      lemon wallpaper

4. a distinctive tart flavour made from or in imitation of the lemon

5. slang a person or thing considered to be useless or defective

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• lemon-like
  adjective
• lemonish
  adjective
• lemonlike
  adjective
• lemony
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lemons
  plural

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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

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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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lemon lemons

I know there are people out there like, “you should drink lemon water.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

For chicken soup, I roast thighs on a bed of onion, garlic, carrot and celery with big lemon slices, garlic powder, onion powder and plenty of black pepper.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

I’ll pick a lemon off my tree to add to it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

When Will Hudson bought his condo in Golden, Colo., two years ago, the last thing he expected was to be trapped with the real-estate equivalent of a lemon.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

When the beanbags are back where they belong and the table is clear and smells like the lemon spray Ms. Dale likes to use, she says, “Let’s sit.”

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

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

He has one customer who picks lemons from his family’s tree to trade for other produce.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Farmers arrived at dawn with tomatoes, gourds, chillies, lemons and melons.

From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026

Mine, it turns out, are lemons and chicken thighs.

From Salon ● May 22, 2026

Later that evening Dad and I went to the grocery store and stocked up on several bags of lemons and my secret sour ingredient, Lemonhead candy.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

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