Grapefruit
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
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."
Example
More examples"I prefer grapefruit to oranges."
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".
Related phrases
More for "grapefruit"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.