squeeze a lemon

Meaning

This phrase means to press or crush a lemon to extract its juice. It is a common instruction in cooking and baking recipes, as well as in making beverages like lemonade. It can be done by hand or using a hand-press kitchen tool.

Examples

• Can you squeeze a lemon over the grilled fish to give it some extra flavor?

  Can you squeeze a lemon over the grilled fish to give it some extra flavor?

• To make the dressing, you need to squeeze a lemon and mix the juice with olive oil.

  To make the dressing, you need to squeeze a lemon and mix the juice with olive oil.

• I always squeeze a lemon into my hot water first thing in the morning.

  I always squeeze a lemon into my hot water first thing in the morning.

• She watched him squeeze a lemon directly into the pancake batter.

  She watched him squeeze a lemon directly into the pancake batter.

• If you squeeze a lemon after rolling it on the counter, you will get more juice out of it.

  If you squeeze a lemon after rolling it on the counter, you will get more juice out of it.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ You need to press a lemon for the juice.

  ✓ You need to squeeze a lemon for the juice.

  While 'press' describes the physical action, native speakers almost exclusively use the verb 'squeeze' when extracting juice from citrus fruits by hand.

• ✗ Squeeze a lemon juice into the salad.

  ✓ Squeeze some lemon juice into the salad.

  You squeeze 'a lemon' (the fruit) or squeeze 'lemon juice' (the liquid) out of it. Combining 'a lemon' directly with 'juice' in this structure is grammatically incorrect.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Before you serve the tacos, make sure to ___ over the meat.

  💡 Extract the juice of a yellow citrus fruit.

  Show answer

  squeeze a lemon

• If the sauce is too sweet, you can ___ to balance the flavors.

  💡 Use fresh citrus juice to add acidity.

  Show answer

  squeeze a lemon