navel orange

American  

noun

1. a seedless variety of orange having at the apex a navellike formation containing a small secondary fruit.

---

navel orange British  

noun

1. a sweet orange that is usually seedless and has at its apex a navel-like depression enclosing an underdeveloped secondary fruit

---

Etymology

Origin of navel orange

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

navel orange

I had the kombu-cured Japanese hamachi with navel orange, capers, chili, and kohlrabi—bright, balanced, and just a little spicy.

From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2026

After a cold spell decimated Riverside’s navel orange crop in 1913, the residents of Pachappa Camp left to look for work in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2021

He’d already been through four months of chemotherapy, and now Dr. John Waldhausen, a surgeon specializing in neuroblastoma cases, was going to remove a tumor the size of a navel orange from his abdomen.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 23, 2021

Novel cultivars were catalyzing fruit industries across America: the seedless Washington navel orange, the Bartlett pear, Kolb’s Gem watermelon.

From Slate ● Jan. 5, 2021

Who has not enjoyed a juicy navel orange, while wondering at its peculiar shape and lack of troublesome seeds?

From Stories of California by Ella M. Sexton