dragon fruit

or drag·on·fruit

[ drag-uhn froot ]

noun

1. a round or oval fruit produced by any of several cactus species, especially Selenicereus undatus, usually having red, pink, or yellow scaly skin and sweet white or red pulp filled with small black seeds.

dragon fruit

noun

1. another name for pitahaya

Word History and Origins

Origin of dragon fruit¹

First recorded in 1960–65; probably a loan translation from a Southeast Asian language

Example Sentences

The sapphire, the color of ripe dragon fruit, is cut in such a way that it appears to contain multitudes.

From Los Angeles Times

Then, to see whether the seeds remained intact after being digested, the researchers fed silver dragon fruits to three kinds of invertebrates—camel crickets, rough woodlice, and earwigs—and examined their feces under a microscope.

From Science Magazine

A cocktail menu will be added soon, with Asian-inspired drinks such as a dragon fruit margarita along with the trendy espresso martini.

From Seattle Times

The farm also grows ice cream beans, persimmons, pomegranates, passion fruit, dragon fruit, cherimoyas and caviar limes in soil that has become more fertile from the biodiversity of crops.

From Los Angeles Times

Thai and Indonesian officials fed the animals bananas and dragon fruit while they were being displayed inside their crates at the Bangkok airport before they were taken onto the plane.

From Seattle Times