A raisin is a dried grape. When grapes are left in the sun or placed in special drying rooms, their water slowly evaporates, leaving behind a small, wrinkled, sweet treat. The transformation takes about three weeks, and the grape shrinks to about a quarter of its original size.

Raisins have been a popular food for thousands of years. Ancient Phoenician and Egyptian traders carried them on long voyages because they lasted for months without spoiling, unlike fresh fruit. Today, raisins show up in oatmeal cookies, trail mix, and cinnamon raisin bread.

Different types of grapes make different types of raisins. The small dark ones you see most often come from Thompson Seedless grapes. Golden raisins are made from the same grapes but dried differently to keep their lighter color.

People sometimes use raisin as a comparison for anything that becomes small and wrinkled, like fingers after a long bath. If someone says their hands look like raisins after swimming, they mean their skin has gotten pruney and wrinkled.