string bean
Americannoun
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any of various kinds of bean, as the green bean, the unripe pods of which are used as food, usually after stripping off the fibrous thread along the side.
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the pod itself.
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Informal. a tall, thin person.
noun
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any of several bean plants, such as the scarlet runner, cultivated for their edible unripe pods See also green bean wax bean
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informal a tall thin person
Etymology
Origin of string bean
An Americanism dating back to 1750–60
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 fruit that ultimately emerges is a pod that looks like a long, thick string bean and contains black seeds.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2024
After hearing this, Ginger said, "Well, I like how she looks. Can you stand a minute, string bean?"
From Fox News • Jan. 7, 2022
Most delightfully of all, the over-confident string bean anachronistically decked out in Keanu’s Matrix costume isn’t the living worst.
From Slate • Nov. 5, 2020
A talented string bean named Van Dyke became Reiner's alter ego on the show, which ran for five seasons.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 1, 2014
He plucked what looked like a four-foot version of a string bean from a branch, split it lengthwise, and showed me flattened, shiny seeds arrayed along its length like teeth in a jaw.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
