hill of beans
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of hill of beans
First recorded in 1860–65
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.
The authors have the temerity to report that urban community gardens, those itty-bitty lots where neighbors grow snap peas and the like, don’t amount to a hill of beans.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
Next to all that, a rocky relationship styled into an on-and-off situationship for a reality TV subplot is the proverbial hill of beans Rick Blaine mentioned in “Casablanca.”
From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026
Moral victories don’t amount to a hill of beans in the NFL, but players see the upcoming schedule starting with the Bears and know this is the time to stack wins.
From Washington Times • Oct. 4, 2023
It didn’t mean a hill of beans to me, because, I tell you, this go around, I worked for Ben Carson, a very intelligent gentleman.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2017
The boat assignments really didn’t amount to a hill of beans for now.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
