soybean

American  

[soi-been] / ˈsɔɪˌbin /

especially British, soya bean

noun

• soybeans
  plural

1. a bushy Old World plant, Glycine max, of the legume family, cultivated globally, with greatest productivity in the United States, where it is grown chiefly for forage and soil improvement.

2. the seed of this plant, used for food, as a livestock feed, and for a variety of other commercial uses.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• soybeans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of soybean

First recorded in 1795–1805; soy + bean

Explanation

Prized for its high protein content and adaptable for many cooking and industrial products, the soybean is the most valuable member of the pea family. A legume native to Asia, the soybean is incredibly important, providing essential vegetable protein for millions of people around the world. Soybeans are transformed into various foods like tofu, soy milk, and soy sauce, making them a staple in the diets of people who do not or cannot eat animal protein. Beyond food, soybeans are used in animal feed and as ingredients in hundreds of chemical products, including biodiesel and plastics.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

soybean soybeans

Her new salary is slightly more than the $17.40 hourly wages she had made at the soybean plant handling invoices and tracking loads.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

At 66, Lee had applied to hundreds of jobs in the 16 months after she was laid off from a soybean processing plant last year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Latiao were created in Pingjiang in 1998 as an emergency staple food, after devastating floods wiped out the local soybean crop.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

To explore how the protein influences appetite and body weight, the animals were given free access to soybean oil as a source of dietary fat.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026

Fried mung-bean pancake with spicy sauce, wafting in the air with the bricks of pungent soybean paste hawked by a nearby merchant, so strong you could taste it.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

China is mostly mentioned in agribusiness over concerns about farmland ownership or import commitments on soybeans and beef.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

The outlook for U.S. ending stocks was also adjusted for 2026, pegging corn at 1.79 billion bushels, soybeans at 310 million bushels, and wheat at 722 million bushels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

One such chemical is sulfoxaflor, a next generation pesticide introduced in 2013 to eliminate sap feeding insects such as aphids on crops including soybeans and corn.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026

Others say substitutes such as soybeans or kidney beans, suggested by an Iskcon official, are not widely eaten in the state and may not be readily accepted by students.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

He also feeds them a mixture of corn, toasted soybeans, and kelp, which we scooped into long troughs in their pens.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan