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

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2024

In Guatemala, the combined effects of both drought and rain devastated corn and black bean harvests, both major food staples.

From Salon ● Dec. 14, 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

Both the black bean and cabbage dishes were good.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 19, 2023

They had waited nearly an hour on the sidewalk for their table and then feasted on flowering chives and salted squid and the clams in black bean sauce that Maxine loved best.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri