*bean*

a. (Zool.) See Amoebean. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Alternately answering. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bene, AS. beán; akin to D. boon, G. bohne, OHG. pōna, Icel. baun, Dan. bönne, Sw. böna, and perh. to Russ. bob, L. faba. ] 1. (Bot.) A name given to the seed of certain leguminous herbs, chiefly of the genera Faba, Phaseolus, and Dolichos; also, to the herbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The origin and classification of many kinds are still doubtful. Among true beans are: the black-eyed bean and China bean, included in Dolichos Sinensis; black Egyptian bean or hyacinth bean, Dolichos Lablab; the common haricot beans, kidney beans, string beans, and pole beans, all included in Phaseolus vulgaris; the lower bush bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, variety nanus; Lima bean, Phaseolus lunatus; Spanish bean and scarlet runner, Phaseolus multiflorus; Windsor bean, the common bean of England, Faba vulgaris. [ 1913 Webster ]

As an article of food beans are classed with vegetables. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The popular name of other vegetable seeds or fruits, more or less resembling true beans. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bean aphis (Zool.), a plant louse (Aphis fabæ) which infests the bean plant. --
Bean fly (Zool.), a fly found on bean flowers. --
Bean goose (Zool.), a species of goose (Anser segetum). --
Bean weevil (Zool.), a small weevil that in the larval state destroys beans. The American species is Bruchus fabæ. --
Florida bean (Bot.), the seed of Mucuna urens, a West Indian plant. The seeds are washed up on the Florida shore, and are often polished and made into ornaments. --
Ignatius bean, or
St. Ignatius's bean (Bot.), a species of Strychnos. --
Navy bean, the common dried white bean of commerce; probably so called because an important article of food in the navy. --
Pea bean, a very small and highly esteemed variety of the edible white bean; -- so called from its size. --
Sacred bean. See under Sacred. --
Screw bean. See under Screw. --
Sea bean. (a) Same as Florida bean. (b) A red bean of unknown species used for ornament. --
Tonquin bean, or
Tonka bean, the fragrant seed of Dipteryx odorata, a leguminous tree. --
Vanilla bean. See under Vanilla. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a small cloth bag filled with dried beans; it is thrown from person to person in games. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a baseball deliberately thrown at the batter's head.
Syn. -- beaner. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. (Bot.) A deciduous plant of warm climates, generally with fleshy leaves and flowers of a yellow or whitish yellow color, of the genus Zygophyllum. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a baseball deliberately thrown at the batter's head.
Syn. -- beanball. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (British) an annual dinner party given by an employer for the employees. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a small skullcap; formerly worn by schoolboys and college freshmen.
Syn. -- beany. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. a game in which numbered balls are drawn and random and players cover the correponding numbers on their cards.
Syn. -- lotto, bingo, keno. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. stem of a bean plant. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. (Bot.) A leguminous shrub of southern Europe, with trifoliate leaves (Anagyris foetida). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. same as beanie.
Syn. -- beanie. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a perennial plant of Europe and America (Menyanthes trifoliata) having racemes of white or purplish flowers and intensely bitter trifoliate leaves; often rooting at the water margin and spreading across the surface; -- called also bog myrtle, water shamrock and marsh trefoil.
Syn. -- water shamrock, buckbean, bog myrtle, marsh trefoil. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. an Old World upright plant grown esp. for its large flat edible seeds but also as fodder.
Syn. -- broad bean, broad-bean plant, English bean, European bean, field bean, Vicia faba. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(Bot.) A perennial plant (Menyanthes trifoliata) of Europe and America which grows in moist and boggy places, having racemes of white, reddish, or purplish flowers and intensely bitter trifoliate leaves, sometimes used in medicine; marsh trefoil; -- called also bog bean. It often roots at the water margin and spreads across the surface.
Syn. -- water shamrock, bogbean, bog myrtle, marsh trefoil, Menyanthes trifoliata. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. Of or pertaining to the Caribs, to their islands (the eastern and southern West Indies), or to the sea (called the Caribbean sea) lying between those islands and Central America. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Bot.) The bean or seed of the castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis, or Palma Christi.) [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. chalybeïus, fr. chalybs steel, Gr. &unr_;. ] 1. Of or pertaining to the Chalybes, an ancient people of Pontus in Asia Minor, celebrated for working in iron and steel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of superior quality and temper; -- applied to steel. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Bot.) (a) The large, roundish, flattened seed of Mucuna urens. See under Bean. (b) One of the very large seeds of the Entada scandens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The seed of the broad-bean plant.
Syn. -- broad bean, fava bean. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. A large shrub or shrubby tree (Parkinsonia aculeata) having sharp spines and pinnate leaves with small deciduous leaflets and sweet-scented racemose yellow-orange flowers; grown as ornamentals or hedging or emergency food for livestock; originating in tropical America but naturalized in the Southern U. S.
Syn. -- Jerusalem thorn, Parkinsonia aculeata. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(Bot.) See Saint Ignatius's bean, under Saint. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. any distinguished personage during the reign of James I of England. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. [ From L. Jacobus James. See 2d Jack. ] Of or pertaining to James the First, of England, or of his reign or times; especially, pertaining to a style of architecture and decoration popular in the time of James I.; as, Jacobean writers. “A Jacobean table.” C. L. Eastlake. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

{ n., or }. [ Prob. fr. a native name. ] (Bot.) The seed of the wild licorice (Abrus precatorius) used by the people of India for beads in rosaries and necklaces, as a standard weight, etc.; -- called also jumble bead. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

prop. a. Of or pertaining to Judas Maccabeus or to the Maccabees; as, the Maccabean princes; Maccabean times. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A tuberous-rooted twining annual vine (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) bearing clusters of purplish flowers and pods with four jagged wings; Old World tropics.
Syn. -- winged bean, winged pea, goa bean, goa bean vine, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ }, a. [ From L. Meliboeus, one of the interlocutors in Virgil's first Eclogue. ] (Rhet.) Alternately responsive, as verses. [ 1913 Webster ]

. The pod or seed of the mesquite. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. The mung (Vigna radiata). [ PJC ]

2. The bean produced by the mung. [ PJC ]

(Bot.) The seed of a Brazilian lauraceous tree (Nectandra Puchury) of a taste and smell between those of nutmeg and of sassafras, -- sometimes used medicinally. Called also sassafras nut. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. plumbeus, from plumbum the metal lead. ] 1. Consisting of, or resembling, lead. J. Ellis. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Dull; heavy; stupid. [ R. ] J. P. Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. Same as Sabian. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Bot.) Same as Florida bean. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Bot.) An Asiatic leguminous herb (Glycine max, formerly Glycine Soja) the seeds of which (also called soy beans) are used in preparing the sauce called soy. Called also soya bean and soya. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. the seeds of the Glycine max, which produce soybean oil; -- called also soya bean. [ PJC ]

n. an oil obtained from the soybean (Glycine max), rich in protein, fats, sterols, and phospholipids, used as a food and in paints and varnishes and in various industrial applications; -- called also soya oil. It is also used in preparing the sauce called soy or soy sauce. [ PJC ]

(Bot.) See Tonka bean. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Cf. F. onca, tonka. ] (Bot.) The seed of a leguminous tree (Dipteryx odorata), native of Guiana. It has a peculiarly agreeable smell, and is employed in the scenting of snuff. Called also tonquin bean. [ Written also tonca bean, tonga bean. ] [ 1913 Webster ]