grapefruit peel

1 2.7

Strips of grapefruit skin become a sweet when cooked in sugar and used as a decoration

noun
/ˈɡreɪpˌfrut pil/

: cáscara de pomelo

Candied grapefruit peel adds a tangy sweetness to holiday desserts.

Examples

You can make candy from grapefruit peels easily.
The chef recommended using grapefruit peel as a unique garnish for cocktails.
She decorated the cake with finely sliced grapefruit peel for a burst of color.
I love the taste of grapefruit peel in my dessert.
Candied grapefruit peel adds a tangy sweetness to holiday desserts.
The chef recommended using grapefruit peel as a unique garnish for cocktails.
She decorated the cake with finely sliced grapefruit peel for a burst of color.

Synonyms

candied citrus peel

vsgrapefruit peel

1 3.5

Strips of citrus peel cooked in sugar until sweet and soft

is the same treat but made from one specific fruit and often coated with sugar

Surface Forms

grapefruit peel singular

grapefruit peels plural

Morphology

grapefruit + peel

The meaning 'strips of grapefruit skin' is directly and compositionally derivable from 'grapefruit' (a citrus fruit) + 'peel' (outer skin), so a B1 learner who knows both words would understand the compound. The culinary detail (candied or used as garnish) is a usage-specific extension but does not reduce transparency; this kind of noun + noun composition is cross-linguistically common.

Etymology

The noun grapefruit peel comes from the simple picture of using the grapefruit's peel, the outer skin, which cooks would boil in sugar to make a small, sweet strip. That's why today grapefruit peel means those sugary strips used as a 'sweet' or a 'garnish'.