Definition
nounAny plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.
nounThe large edible seed of such a plant (for example, a broad bean, navy bean, or garbanzo bean).
Sentence Examples
I don't care a bean.
Jerry is the bean counter for our company.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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 I say, it was from his fertile bean that the idea sprang."
— 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XI and XV:
"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 64:
"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):
""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: