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Grapefruit
Definitions
- 1 The tree of the species Citrus paradisi, a hybrid of Citrus maxima and sweet orange. countable, uncountable
"Results have begun to come in and at Comfort Castle this month I spent a useful and happy half day carting round 8 children in my car to their homes where we all helped to fill in with good soil and manure, their excellently dug holes and planted the grapefruit."
- 2 large yellow fruit with somewhat acid juicy pulp; usual serving consists of a half wordnet
- 3 The large spherical tart fruit produced by this tree. countable, uncountable
"Grapefruit is high in vitamin C. The pink and red varieties contain vitamin A (betacarotene) and lycopene, an antioxidant that may help prevent cancer. Grapefruit contains a chemical that can alter intestinal absorption of some medications and lead to higher than normal blood levels of some drugs and potential problems."
- 4 citrus tree bearing large round edible fruit having a thick yellow rind and juicy somewhat acid pulp wordnet
- 5 Large breasts; by extension, a woman with large breasts. countable, plural-normally, uncountable, vulgar
"Cupping her grapefruits in her hands, she closed her eyes and imagined her date grasping them, exploring their size, weight, and firmness."
Etymology
Widely assumed to be a marketing term from grape + fruit, an allusion to the supposed grapelike clusters of fruit on the tree, early 19th c. Ciardi proposes another theory: one of the pomelo's botanical names is Citrus grandis, meaning "great citrus [fruit]", due to the size of its fruit. A new pomelo variety might first have been called a "greatfruit" (see greatfruit), and through the process of assimilation, the word came to be pronounced "grapefruit".
See also for "grapefruit"
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