string bean

American  

noun

string beans plural

1. 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.

2. the pod itself.

3. Informal. a tall, thin person.

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string bean British  

noun

1. any of several bean plants, such as the scarlet runner, cultivated for their edible unripe pods See also green bean wax bean

2. informal a tall thin person

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• string beans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of string bean

An Americanism dating back to 1750–60

Example Sentences

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

Ginger said, "I think you’re right! You got the job 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

“These are not beans,” he said, pointing disdainfully at a supermarket string bean.

From Washington Post • Aug. 29, 2016

He was tall and skinny and looked like a giant string bean.

From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy