lemon

/ˈlɛmən/

More pronunciations (2)Fewer pronunciations

pin pen merger/ˈlɪmɪn/

lemon noun: a yellowish citrus fruit.

Image: André Karwath aka Aka, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

lemon (usually countable, plural lemons)

(usually) A yellowish citrus fruit.
- The juice of Lemmons killeth Warts, but better the water of the ſame juice, diſtilled through a glaſs.1680, T. K., The Kitchin-Phyſician; Or, a Guide for Good-Housewives in Maintaining Their Families in Health. […] , How to take away Warts off the Face or Hands, page 14
(usually) A semitropical evergreen tree, Citrus limon, that bears such fruits.
(usually) A more or less bright shade of yellow associated with lemon fruits.
(rare, uncountable, usually) Lemon juice.
- [J]uſt at the laſt ſcald four or five ſpoonfuls of thick new cream, with a few drops of lemon or vinegar, muſhrooms pickled do well, […]1737, E[liza] S[mith], “Sauce for Boiled Turkey or Chickens”, in The Compleat Housewife: Or, Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companion: […], London: […] J[ohn] and J[ohn] Pemberton, […], →OCLC, page 99
- [S]tir into this, after taking from the fire, two ounces of butter cut into little bits, putting in one piece at a time, and squeeze a few drops of lemon in this sauce.1887, Sarah A. Grier, chapter VIII, in A Few Hints about Cooking, with Remarks on Many Other Subjects, Boston, Mass.: Wright & Potter Printing Company, […], →OCLC, page 111
(usually) A lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris).
(slang, usually) A defective or inadequate item or individual.
- He didn’t realise until he’d paid for it that the car was a lemon.
- “[…]the Navy's supposed to give me a ship that goes, and a captain that fights—— That's what all this muck is for, isn't it?”
  “Look, it's an old story by now. We're stuck with a lemon. Misfortune of war.[…]”1951, Herman Wouk, chapter 20, in The Caine Mutiny, page 243
Synonyms:

bomb
(Cockney, slang, usually, shortened from “lemon flavour”) Favor.
- A thousand quid for that motor? Do me a lemon! I could get it for half that.
(slang, usually) A piece of fanfiction involving explicit sex.
- I'd really like to know what people think of this and whether I should carry on writing lemons or go and hide under a rock somewhere.1997 April 18, Neko, “[Dominion][FanFic][Lemon] A Typical Night at the Station”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet)
- WARNING: This story is a lemon and must be viewed with great care. If you are either under the age of 18, think graphic sex is discussing^([sic – meaning disgusting]) or you know what my writing is like you should turn away now.2000 May 30, Ian Blakeman, “[Eva][FanFic][Lemon] A day at Misatos appartment^([sic])”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet)
Synonyms:

PWP, smutfic
(usually) The surface of revolution of a circular arc of angle less than 180° rotated about the straight line passing through the arc’s two endpoints.

Adjective

lemon (comparative more lemon, superlative most lemon)

Containing or having the flavour/flavor and/or scent of lemons.
Of the pale yellow colour/color of lemons.
(Cockney, slang) Smart; cheeky, vocal.
- Obviously Emin is not the first public figure to get lemon over tax increases.2009 October 12, Caitlin Moran, “Why I love paying tax”, in The Times

Verb

lemon (third-person singular simple present lemons, present participle lemoning, simple past and past participle lemoned)

(transitive) To flavour with lemon.
- You can start the vegetables cooking while you are lemoning the fish.

Proper noun capitalized: Lemon

Lemon (countable and uncountable, plural Lemons)

A surname.
An unincorporated community in McLean County, Kentucky, United States.
A minor river in Devon, England, which joins the River Teign at Newton Abbot.

lemon meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

lemon in Hindi

citrus fruit: नींबू nīmbū, नीबू nībū
tree: नीबू nībū

lemon in Tamil

colour/color: பழுப்பு paḻuppu
citrus fruit: எலுமிச்சம் பழம் elumiccam paḻam, எலுமிச்சை elumiccai
tree: எலுமிச்சை elumiccai

lemon in Marathi

colour/color: लिंबू limbū
citrus fruit: लिंबू limbū
tree: लिंबू limbū

lemon in Urdu

citrus fruit: نیبو nībū

More languagesFewer languages

lemon in Bengali: লেবু lebu, লেবু গাছ lebu gach
lemon in Telugu: నిమ్మకాయ nimmakāya, నిమ్మ nimma
lemon in Malayalam: ചെറുനാരങ്ങ ceṟunāraṅṅa, നാരങ്ങ nāraṅṅa, ചെറുനാരകം ceṟunārakaṁ, നാരകം nārakaṁ
lemon in Kannada: ಇಲಿಮಿಂಚಿ ilimiñci, ನಿಂಬೆ nimbe
lemon in Punjabi: ਨਿੰਬੂ nimbū
lemon in Gujarati: લીંબુ lī̃bu
lemon in Odia: ଲେମୁ lemu
lemon in Sanskrit: निम्बू nimbū
lemon in Sinhala: රට දෙහි raṭa dehi
lemon in Assamese: নেমু nemu, নেমু-টেঙা nemu-teṅa, নেমু গছ nemu gos
lemon in Nepali: निम्बू nimbū
lemon in Pashto: نيمبو nimbu
lemon in Arabic: طَعْمٌ حَامِضٌ ṭaʕmun ḥāmiḍun, لَيْمُون laymūn, شَجَرَةُ لَيْمُونٍ šajaratu laymūnin
lemon in Malay: jeruk, limau
lemon in Indonesian: jeruk sitrun, jeruk lemon
lemon in Persian: لیمون limun, لیمو limu
lemon in Thai: มะนาว má-naao
lemon in Vietnamese: vàng canh, chanh, màu chanh
lemon in Myanmar: ရှောက် hrauk, သံပရို sampa.rui
Sindhi: ليم lem
Dhivehi: ގޮމަށި gomaṣi
Dzongkha: ཧུམ་ཅུང hum cung

Examples of lemon in a sentence

The fact that he is drinking lemon is, therefore, an image of the bitterness of his life.1989, David Johnston, “Notes”, in Federico García Lorca, translated by David Johnston, Blood Wedding, London: Hodder & Stoughton, published...
Drinking lemon is known to aid with digestion, as it contains limonene, compounds that can assist with weight loss and fighting inflammation!2018, Sally Olivia Kim, “Vanilla Lemon Latte”, in The Collagen Glow: A Guide to Ingestible Skincare, New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton &...
This won't be a lemon simply because I can't see myself writing anything like that.2002 November 10, Goku Girl, “[DBZ][FanFic][Yaoi] Saiya-jin no Suto-ri Ichi (part one)”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet):

All 40 example sentences with lemon

Synonyms of lemon

Forms of lemon

Noun
plural	lemons
alternative form	limon
Adjective
comparative	more lemon
superlative	most lemon
Verb
third-person singular present	lemons
present participle	lemoning
past participle	lemoned
past	lemoned
Proper noun
plural	Lemons
alternative form	Lemmond

Plural of lemon: lemons

Origin of lemon

Inherited from Middle English lymon, from Old French lymon (“citrus”), from Arabic لَيْمُون (laymūn) or Classical Persian لِیمُون (līmūn), a variant of Classical Persian لِیمُو (līmū, līmō), from Sanskrit निम्बू (nimbū, “lime”), ultimately from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *limaw or Munda. Doublet of lime. The fandom sense is named after the erotic anime series Cream Lemon.

Words formed from lemon

Phrases with lemon

53 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with lemon

2 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about lemon

What does lemon mean?: Lemon means a yellowish citrus fruit.
What is lemon in Hindi?: Lemon in Hindi is नींबू (nīmbū), नीबू (nībū). See Lemon meaning in Hindi.
How do you use lemon in a sentence?: The fact that he is drinking lemon is, therefore, an image of the bitterness of his life.
What part of speech is lemon?: Lemon can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce lemon?: Lemon is pronounced /ˈlɛmən/.
What is the plural of lemon?: The plural of lemon is lemons.

Words near lemon in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: lemon (page history and authors); Lemon (page history and authors); نيمبو (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-lemon.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Simplificationalizer-lemon.wav.

Cite this entry: “lemon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lemon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.