- a seed, or pod containing seeds, of a climbing plant, eaten as a vegetable. There are several types of bean and the plants that they grow on are also called beans.
- green beans
- runner beans
- beans (= baked beans) on toast
- a can/tin of beans
- She grows her own broad beans.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- broad
- butter
- chilli
- …
- plant
- grow
- drain
- …
- curd
- sprout
- (usually in compounds) a seed from a coffee plant, or some other plants
- cocoa/coffee beans
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- castor
- cocoa
- coffee
- …
- roast
- grind
Word OriginOld English bēan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch boon and German Bohne.
Idioms
See bean in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryfull of beans/life
- (of a person) having a lot of energy
a hill of beans
- (North American English, old-fashioned, informal) something that is not worth much
not have a bean
- (British English, informal) to have no money
not know beans about something
- (North American English, informal) to know nothing about a subject
- I don’t know beans about making movies.
spill the beans/tea
- (informal) to tell somebody something that should be kept secret or private
- We don't want to spill the beans yet.
- She made the mistake of spilling the tea on her sister's love life.
Check pronunciation:
bean