Bean

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A name given to the seed of certain leguminous herbs, chiefly of the genera Faba, Phaseolus, and Dolichos; also, to the herbs.

2. The popular name of other vegetable seeds or fruits, more or less resembling true beans. Bean aphis (Zoöl.), a plant louse (Aphis fabæ) which infests the bean plant. -- Bean fly (Zoöl.), a fly found on bean flowers. -- Bean goose (Zoöl.), a species of goose (Anser segetum). -- Bean weevil (Zoöl.), a small weevil that in the larval state destroys beans. The American species in 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.