grapefruit
nounUK /ˈɡɹeɪ̯pfɹuːt/ · US /ˈɡɹeɪ̯pfɹut/
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 GRAYT-froot (see greatfruit), and through the process of assimilation, the word came to be pronounced GRAYP-froot.
1
The tree of the species Citrus paradisi, a hybrid of Citrus maxima and sweet orange.
- 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.1932, The Farmer, page 64:
2
The large spherical tart fruit produced by this tree.
- 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.2002, “Fruits”, in Encyclopedia of Foods: A Guide to Healthy Nutrition, Academic Press, →ISBN, part II (Encyclopedia of Foods), page 176, column 3:
- Once loaded by Canaveral, the grapefruit are transported to Japan, where the shipments are unloaded by employees of Japanese stevedoring companies. The grapefruit are then received by the Japanese importers.2002, NLRB Advice Memorandum Reporter, Labor Relations Press, page 100:
3
Plural normally, Vulgar Large breasts; by extension, a woman with large breasts.
- Cupping her grapefruits in her hands, she closed her eyes and imagined her date grasping them, exploring their size, weight, and firmness.
- Dan hauled her to the carpet as she fell limp over him. She stretched out on her back, her grapefruits, fitted snugly into her sturdy cotton bra, rock hard under his nose.1993, Leandra Logan, Joyride, Harlequin Books, page 162:
4 more examples
- In walked my supposedly dead niece Esmerelda wearing shorts that didn't exist and a top that made her grapefruits look like honeydews, if you get my drift.1997, Paul Dennithorne Johnston, “Boiling Creek: The G.S. Detective, Part II”, in Delphus David Bourland, Paul Dennithorne Johnston, editors, E-Prime III!: A Third Anthology, International Society for General Semantics, page 357:
- He raised his hand again. "If you scratch my face and I give you a black eye—who's worse off? Because what've you got besides a pair of grapefruits and a pretty face? So let me show you something else I bought."2000, Irving Shulman, Harlow: An Intimate Biography, iUniverse, page 122:
- A new pair of grapefruits arrives with yet another tray of drinks. She says that they were sent by someone at another table and points a fingernail in the direction of our benefactor.2016, Andrew Matheson, Sick On You: The Disastrous Story of the Hollywood Brats, the Greatest Band You've Never Heard Of, Penguin, page 184:
- I lay there for about twenty seconds trying to get my wind back, until slowly and painfully I picked myself up as best I could and with as much class as I could muster in the circumstances, but keeping my eyes on her grapefruits – the ones in the bag, I hasten to add.2020, Nick Hughes, Bahama Boyz, Troubador Publishing Ltd, page 140:
- Synonyms
- grapefruit tree, Citrus × paradisi, Citrus sinensis × Citrus grandis, Citrus sinensis × Citrus maxima, breasts
- Derived terms
- Chinese grapefruit, grapefruitade, grapefruit ade, grapefruitini, grapefruit juice, grapefruit knife, Grapefruit League, grapefruitlike, grapefruit mint, grapefruit spoon, grapefruity