wild bean

American  

noun

1. groundnut.

2. any of several other leguminous plants, especially of the genus Strophostyles.

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Etymology

Origin of wild bean

An Americanism dating back to 1770–80

Example Sentences

But businessmen are already harvesting and processing the wild bean, and demand is strong.

From Time Magazine Archive

At midnight the leaves of the ground-nut.and wild bean "are hardly to be recognized in their queer antics," says William Hamilton Gibson.

From Wild Flowers An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors by Blanchan, Neltje

The wild bean is found in all parts of the valleys where the land is moist and rich.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

There is a native wild bean found growing over an area of wide distribution in North America.

From A Book Written by the Spirits of the So-Called Dead by Helleberg, C. G. (Carl Gustaf)

There is a wild bean in this country, the blossom of which has a delicious perfume of violets.

From The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile by Baker, Samuel White, Sir