string bean

American  

noun

• string beans
  plural

1. any of various kinds of bean, as the green bean, the unripe pods of which are used as food, usually after stripping off the fibrous thread along the side.

2. the pod itself.

3. Informal. a tall, thin person.

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string bean British  

noun

1. any of several bean plants, such as the scarlet runner, cultivated for their edible unripe pods See also green bean wax bean

2. informal a tall thin person

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• string beans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of string bean

An Americanism dating back to 1750–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

string bean

The fruit that ultimately emerges is a pod that looks like a long, thick string bean and contains black seeds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2024

After hearing this, Ginger said, "Well, I like how she looks. Can you stand a minute, string bean?"

From Fox News ● Jan. 7, 2022

Most delightfully of all, the over-confident string bean anachronistically decked out in Keanu’s Matrix costume isn’t the living worst.

From Slate ● Nov. 5, 2020

A talented string bean named Van Dyke became Reiner's alter ego on the show, which ran for five seasons.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 1, 2014

Before long, he was thumping around the house, thin as a string bean, swallowing buckets of food to regain the weight he’d lost.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover