🌳 A Tilia tree 🍋 A citrus tree

lime tree

1 2.0

A tree that grows small green fruits called limes

noun
/laɪm tri/

: limonero

Inside the courtyard was a well and a lime tree that had just ripened.

Examples

The garden was filled with fragrant flowers and a large lime tree loaded with ripe fruit.
On a hot summer day, we enjoyed sitting under the shade of the tall lime tree in the backyard.
The children climbed the branches of the lime tree to pick fresh limes for their lemonade.

Synonyms

citrus

vslime tree

3 3.1

A tree that grows fruits like oranges or lemons

is more specific, referring to trees that produce the particular small sour fruit

citrus tree

vslime tree

1 2.3

A tree that grows juicy fruits like oranges, lemons, or limes

is narrower, referring only to trees that specifically bear that small fruit

Citrus aurantifolia

vslime tree

Specialized

1 7.4

A small tree from Southeast Asia that makes small round fruits called key limes

is the broader name for any tree that produces that small fruit

Citrus limetta

vslime tree

Specialized

6.5

A small tree that makes sweet lime fruit often used for juice

covers trees that bear the typical, not the milder, variety of that fruit

How Acidic

lime tree

1 2.0

lemon tree

6 1.0

citrange tree

Specialized

9.2

orange tree

5 1.0

Surface Forms

lime tree singular

lime trees plural

Morphology

lime + tree

The compound is directly compositional: 'lime' (here meaning linden) + 'tree' yields a tree of the linden genus, so the overall meaning is predictable from the constituents. Although 'lime' can also refer to a citrus fruit in other senses, given the provided constituent definition the sense is straightforward and would be understood by a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Lime tree names a lime tree. Imagine reaching up to pick sour green fruit from the branches; the name simply means 'a tree that grows limes'.