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rambutan

[ram-boot-n]
noun
  1. the bright-red oval fruit of a Malayan, sapindaceous tree, Nephelium lappaceum, covered with soft spines, or hairs, and having a subacid taste.
  2. the tree itself.
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Origin of rambutan

1700–10; < Malay, equivalent to rambut hair + -an nominalizing suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for rambutan

Historical Examples

  • Then there was the rambutan—a globular fruit, an inch and a half in diameter.

    In the Eastern Seas

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • Among the fruits which we have tasted for the first time the mangosteen and the rambutan are rivals in popularity.

    The Old World and Its Ways

    William Jennings Bryan

  • The rambutan has not received as much praise as the mangosteen, but I am not sure but that it is superior for continuous use.

    The Old World and Its Ways

    William Jennings Bryan

  • The pulp of the rambutan resembles a pigeon's egg in size and shape and contains a single seed.

    The Old World and Its Ways

    William Jennings Bryan

British Dictionary definitions for rambutan

rambutan

noun
  1. a sapindaceous tree, Nephelium lappaceum, native to SE Asia, that has bright red edible fruit
  2. the fruit of this tree
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Word Origin

C18: from Malay, from rambut hair
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012