Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A vine (Citrullus lanatus) native to Africa, widely cultivated for its large edible fruit.
  • noun The fruit of this plant, having a hard green rind and sweet watery pink or reddish flesh.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A plant, Citrullus vulgaris (frequently named Cucumis Citrullus), or its fruit.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) The very large ovoid or roundish fruit of a cucurbitaceous plant (Citrullus vulgaris) of many varieties; also, the plant itself. The fruit sometimes weighs many pounds; its pulp is usually pink in color, and full of a sweet watery juice. It is a native of tropical Africa, but is now cultivated in many countries. See Illust. of melon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A plant of the species Citrullus lanatus, bearing a melon-like fruit.
  • noun The fruit of the watermelon plant, having a green rind and watery flesh that is bright red when ripe and contains black pips.
  • noun pejorative, slang An environmentalist with socialist leanings (from the similarity to the fruit, being green on the outside, and red on the inside).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large oblong or roundish melon with a hard green rind and sweet watery red or occasionally yellowish pulp
  • noun an African melon

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

water +‎ melon

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Examples

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  • Green on the outside, red on the inside. Used as a derogatory nickname for environmentalists who put social goals ahead of environmental ones.

    January 19, 2010

  • 66 ft. 11 inches is the current world record for spitting a watermelon seed. Set in 1989. (via NPR's Says You)

    September 26, 2010