French bean

American  

noun

1. British. the pod of a green bean or wax bean, eaten as a vegetable.

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French bean British  

noun

1. a small twining bushy or annual bean plant, Phaseolus vulgaris , with white or lilac flowers and slender green edible pods

2. the pod of this plant See also haricot

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Etymology

Origin of French bean

First recorded in 1545–55

Example Sentences

A half-dwarf, French bean, similar in habit to the Dwarf Sabre.

From The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Containing Full Descriptions of Nearly Eleven Hundred Species and Varietes; With Directions for Propagation, Culture and Use. by Burr, Fearing

The kidney bean, French bean, or haricot is the Phaseŏlus vulgāris, a well-known culinary vegetable.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 3 Atrebates to Bedlis by Various

The humour of Mr Gilbert's line "The not too French French bean" appeals irresistibly to the English.

From Our Stage and Its Critics By "E.F.S." of "The Westminster Gazette" by Spence, Edward Fordham

Then a sentimental passion of a vegetable fashion must excite your languid spleen, An attachment a la Plato for a bashful young potato, or a not-too-French French bean.

From Bab Ballads and Savoy Songs by Gilbert, W. S. (William Schwenck), Sir

The right kidney, weighing 23-1/2 ounces, is shaped like a French bean, and extends from the loins forward to beneath the heads of the last two ribs.

From Special Report on Diseases of the Horse by Michener, Charles B.