noun

lemon

LEH-muhn

noun

A yellow, oval citrus fruit with sour juice.

"Squeeze a lemon over the fish before serving."

"She added a slice of lemon to her tea."

Informal: a faulty or disappointing product, especially a car.

"The used car turned out to be a total lemon, breaking down within a week."

adj

Flavored or scented like lemon, or pale yellow in color.

"She wore a lemon-yellow dress to the party."

How to Use Lemon

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishUsually the citrus fruit, but informally also a broken or disappointing product, especially a faulty car.

Common mistake

Don't confuse with lime, a different, usually smaller and greener citrus fruit.

Easily confused with

lime →

Common pairings

squeeze of lemon lemon zest a real lemon (of a car)

more lemon comparative, lemoned past tense, lemons plural, Lemons plural, lemons singular, most lemon superlative

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Squeeze a _____ over the fish before serving.

From Old French lymon, ultimately from Arabic laymūn, tracing back through Persian and Sanskrit — a distant cousin of the word lime.

lemon yellow

demon daemon

lemon yellow