lemons

Noun

lemon (usually countable, plural lemons)

1. (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
2. (usually) A semitropical evergreen tree, Citrus limon, that bears such fruits.
3. (usually) A more or less bright shade of yellow associated with lemon fruits.
4. (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
5. (usually) A lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris).
6. (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.

   Synonyms:

   bomb

See all 16 meanings of lemon