bean

Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.

Noun

  1. Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.
    • 2004, T. N. Shivenanda, B. R. V. Iyengar, Phosphorus Management in French Bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.), Ramdane Dris, S. Mohan Jain (editors), Production Practices and Quality Assessment of Food Crops, Volume 2: Plant...

    Coordinate Terms: pea

  2. The large edible seed of such a plant (for example, a broad bean, navy bean, or garbanzo bean).
  3. The edible seedpod of such a plant.
    • Green beans, also called French beans, can be pickled.
  4. The bean-like seed of certain other plants, such as a vanilla bean or (especially) a coffee bean.
  5. An object resembling a pea or bean in shape, often made from plastic or styrofoam and used in large numbers as packing material or as stuffing for beanbags and similar items.
  6. The head or brain.
    • Now, there was a perfectly sound forecast for you. Certainly a case of using the old bean. The surmise was perfectly logical. - 1959, Maxwell Droke, You and the World to Come, page 173:
    • I saw her quiver and kept a wary eye on the ginger ale bottle. But even if she had raised it and brought it down on [my] bean, I couldn't have been more stunned than I was by the words that left her lips. [...] Well, as...

    Synonyms: noggin

  7. The human clitoris.
    • For one, don't stage a full-frontal assault on her bean. - 2010, Cynthia W. Gentry, Dana Fredst, What Women Really Want in Bed: The Surprising Secrets Women Wish Men Knew about Sex, Quiver, published 2010, →ISBN, page...
  8. A person; especially, a baby.
    • Sparky is a good bean, even if he is a carpet-bagging bean at that. - 2000 April 9, Richard G Cheek, “Apologies, DimWit Dana”, in talk.politics.guns (Usenet):
    • i dont want boid (whoever said that) he is mean. boid is a mean bean. - 2002 March 21, Yena, "oh my bloody god boys!", microsoft.public.xbox, Usenet
    • "Good, because we like you. You're okay. You're a good bean." "I never thought I'd be friends with a cheerleader," I said. - 2007, Alex Bradley, Hot Lunch, Penguin, →ISBN:
  9. A guinea coin or sovereign.
  10. Money.
    • I haven't got a bean.
  11. Clipping of JavaBean.
    • The singerOne bean has values for both the name and age properties, so it passes through the init() method with absolutely no changes. - 2017, Iuliana Cosmina, Rob Harrop, Chris Schaefer, Clarence Ho, Pro Spring 5, 5th...
  12. Any form of tablet, especially benzedrine (benny).
    • Once the bean kicked in I started wilding. - 2022, Sean Thor Conroe, Fuccboi, Hachette, →ISBN:

Origin

From Middle English bene, from Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō (“bean”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰabʰ- (“bean”). Cognate with Scots bene, bein (“bean”), North Frisian buan (“bean”), Saterland Frisian Boone (“bean”), West Frisian bean, beanne (“bean”), Dutch boon (“bean”), German Bohne (“bean”), Luxembourgish Boun (“bean”), Danish bønne (“bean”), Faroese bøn, bøna (“bean”), Icelandic baun (“bean”), Norwegian Bokmål bønne (“bean”), Norwegian Nynorsk bauna, baune, bogna, bønne, Swedish böna (“bean”), Irish pónaire (“bean”), Manx poanrey (“bean”), Scottish Gaelic pònair (“bean”), Latin faba (“bean”), Russian боб (bob, “bean”), Serbo-Croatian бо̏б/bȍb. Doublet of fava.

Forms

beans

Hyponyms

adsuki bean aduki bean adzuki bean algaroba bean algarroba bean Anasazi bean asparagus bean azuki bean baked bean baked beans baking beans bay bean beach bean bean shooter Bengal bean Benghal bean bitter bean blackbean black bean black bean sauce black-bean sauce black-eyed bean black turtle bean blue beans

Derived

African locust bean Apache NetBeans asparagus bean backing bean Banstead BaseBean bean aphid bean aphis beanbag bean-bag bean bag beanball bean ball bean beetle bean-belly bean blight beanbrain beanbrawl beanbreath bean bruchid bean-brush beanburger bean-butter beancake

Verb

  1. To hit with a projectile, especially a deliberately aimed blow to the head.
    • The pitcher beaned the batter, rather than letting him hit another home run.
    • Though I shall have to exercise an iron self-restraint to keep me from beaning that pie-faced little hornswoggler Mrs Bertram Wooster, nee Wickham, with the shaker. [...] dudgeon might easily lead her to reach for the...

Forms

beans beaning beaned