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broad bean

American  

noun

  • broad beans
    plural
  1. fava bean.


broad bean British  

noun

  1. an erect annual Eurasian bean plant, Vicia faba , cultivated for its large edible flattened seeds, used as a vegetable

  2. the seed of this plant

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of broad bean

First recorded in 1775–85


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

My Chinese "pantry staples" are Sichuan chili broad bean paste, Chinese soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, Chinese vinegar, Sichuan peppercorns and Sichuan chili peppers.

From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2022

Also called a broad bean, these fresh shell beans require a little bit of work but are totally worth the effort, bringing a sweet nuttiness to your spring dishes.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 8, 2018

The team grew sets of five broad bean plants, allowing three in each group to develop mycorrhizal networks, and preventing the networks' growth in the other two.

From BBC ● May 10, 2013

"It's creating big, boggy puddles in the broad bean bed," he noted, peering out into the garden from the shed where he records the programme.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 14, 2012

It leaves the forest vetch for the pea, and the pea for the broad bean, as pleased with the small as with the large, yet the temptations of the haricot bean leave it indifferent.

From Social Life in the Insect World by Bernard Miall

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