black bean

American  

noun

black beans plural

1. a black variety of kidney bean, used in Latin American cooking.

2. a black soybean, fermented and used in Asian cooking.

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black bean British  

noun

1. Also called: Moreton Bay chestnut.  an Australian leguminous tree, Castanospermum australe , having thin smooth bark and yellow or reddish flowers: used in furniture manufacture

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• black beans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of black bean

First recorded in 1790–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

black bean

Fresh basil and orange zest set this black bean salad apart from its cumin-chili-lime Mexican heritage.

From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2025

At another get-together in my early 20s, I made black bean avocado brownies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2024

Think about lentil soups, white bean soups, black bean soups.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 1, 2023

Trader Joe’s has issued a recall of a brand of black bean tamales, the sixth item that the popular grocery chain has recalled since July.

From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2023

If you left a bowl with even a few grains of rice, you would find it covered with hungry flies so thick it looked like a living bowl of black bean soup.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan