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Synonyms for bean

Grammar : Noun
Spell : been
Phonetic Transcription : bin

Définition of bean

Origin :
  • Old English bean "bean, pea, legume," from Proto-Germanic *bauno (cf. Old Norse baun, Middle Dutch bone, Dutch boon, Old High German bona, German Bohne), perhaps from a PIE reduplicated base *bha-bha- and related to Latin faba "bean."
  • As a metaphor for "something of small value" it is attested from c.1300. Meaning "head" is U.S. baseball slang c.1905 (in bean-ball "a pitch thrown at the head"); thus slang verb bean meaning "to hit on the head," attested from 1910.
  • The notion of lucky or magic beans in English folklore is from the exotic beans or large seeds that wash up occasionally in Cornwall and western Scotland, carried from the Caribbean or South America by the Gulf Stream. They were cherished, believed to ward off the evil eye and aid in childbirth.
  • Slang bean-counter "accountant" recorded by 1971. To not know beans (American English, 1933) is perhaps from the "of little worth" sense, but may have a connection to colloquial expression recorded around Somerset, to know how many beans make five "be a clever fellow."
  • noun small hard pellet
Example sentences :
  • Remove the strings with a knife, and take off both ends of the bean.
  • Extract from : « Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches » by Eliza Leslie
  • If the water is hard, a piece of soda the size of a bean should be added.
  • Extract from : « The Skilful Cook » by Mary Harrison
  • They are baking a great cake in the kitchen, with a bean in it.
  • Extract from : « The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 2, August, 1863 » by Various
  • “Bean porridge is wholesome food, Paul,” said his grandfather.
  • Extract from : « Our Young Folks, Vol 1, No. 1 » by Various
  • "Bean porridge is wholesome food, Paul," said his grandfather.
  • Extract from : « Winning His Way » by Charles Carleton Coffin
  • Near the head they came to a well-watered oasis of corn and bean fields.
  • Extract from : « Bloom of Cactus » by Robert Ames Bennet
  • Leslie invariably said "Bean" instead of Dean in derision of Marjorie.
  • Extract from : « Marjorie Dean, College Sophomore » by Pauline Lester
  • The grandfather sowed a bean under the table, and the grandmother a pea.
  • Extract from : « Russian Fairy Tales » by W. R. S. Ralston
  • "I won't have Bean," Madam declared, clinching her jaw with pain.
  • Extract from : « Quin » by Alice Hegan Rice
  • Rub the warts with the inside of a bean pod, and then throw the pod away.
  • Extract from : « Welsh Folk-Lore » by Elias Owen

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019