grapefruit

IPA/ˈɡreɪpfruːt/
KK[ɡrˈepfrˌut]IPA/ˈɡreɪpfruːt/

grapefruit — noun

  • grapefruitsingular
  • grapefruitsplural

1. A big fruit from the citrus family, with yellow skin and juicy flesh that tastes

1.nounB1
Definition

A big fruit from the citrus family, with yellow skin and juicy flesh that tastes a little bitter and sour; the same word can also mean the tree it grows on.

Example

Bao peeled a grapefruit and shared the pink segments with a younger cousin.

countable: peel a grapefruit / grapefruit segments

Yara ordered fresh grapefruit juice instead of orange juice at the hotel buffet.

grapefruit + noun: grapefruit juice

Common collocations
  • fresh grapefruit
  • pink grapefruit
  • half a grapefruit
  • grapefruit juice
  • grapefruit tree
  • grapefruit segments
  • peel a grapefruit
Synonyms
  • citrus fruit

    broader category that includes oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruits

  • pomelo

    related fruit that is usually larger, thicker-skinned, and less bitter than a grapefruit

  • citrus tree

    broader plant term used when the focus is on growing the tree rather than eating the fruit

Grammar Patterns

a + grapefruit

half a grapefruit

grapefruit + noun (juice, tree, segment)

Usage Note

Usually names the fruit in everyday food contexts. The tree meaning appears mainly in gardening or farming contexts, often in the phrase grapefruit tree.

Common Mistakes

I drank a grapefruit with breakfast.
I drank grapefruit juice with breakfast.
Use grapefruit juice for the drink, not the fruit name alone.
The grapefruit was taller than the fence.
The grapefruit tree was taller than the fence.
When you mean the plant, English usually says grapefruit tree.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Grapefruit, orange, pomelo, and citrus fruit are related, but they do not mean the same thing. Grapefruit is a large citrus fruit with a sour, slightly bitter taste, and people often eat it in halves or drink its juice. An orange is usually sweeter and is the safest everyday word when you simply mean a common citrus fruit. A pomelo is larger, thicker-skinned, and milder in bitterness than a grapefruit, with firmer, drier segments. Citrus fruit is the broad category term that includes all three, along with lemons and limes. On a breakfast menu, grapefruit juice, orange juice, and pomelo salad suggest three clearly different flavours and textures.

grapefruit ↗orange ↗pomelocitrus fruit

Common collocations

Nouns

  • grapefruit juice
  • grapefruit tree
  • grapefruit segment

Phrases

  • half a grapefruit
  • pink grapefruit
  • peel a grapefruit

Etymology

English

The word grapefruit is a modern English compound of grape and fruit. It got this name because the fruit often grows in clusters on the tree, which reminded speakers of bunches of grapes, even though grapefruit belongs to the citrus family rather than the grape family.