beans

Meanings

1. 1nounplural

   The seeds of various plants, eaten as food, often cooked and served as a vegetable.

   Grammar: This is the plural of 'bean'; use it for more than one, and 'bean' for a single one.

   Patterns

   • a can of beans
   • cook beans
   • beans on toast

   She opened a can of beans and heated them in a pan.

   We had rice and beans for dinner last night.

   These beans need to soak overnight before you cook them.

2. 2nounplural

   The pods or seeds of a climbing plant, eaten fresh as a green vegetable.

   Grammar: Often used for green beans or runner beans served whole, rather than dried.

   Patterns

   • green beans
   • fresh beans
   • grow beans

   He picked some green beans from the garden.

   Steam the beans for five minutes and add a little butter.

3. 3nounplural

   The seeds of the coffee or cocoa plant, used to make drinks or chocolate.

   Grammar: Used in fixed phrases like 'coffee beans'; the singular 'bean' refers to one seed.

   Patterns

   • coffee beans
   • cocoa beans
   • roast beans

   The shop sells coffee beans from several countries.

   Cocoa beans are dried and then roasted.

4. 4nounpluralinformal

   A secret; used in the phrase 'spill the beans', meaning to reveal information.

   Grammar: Found mainly in the idiom 'spill the beans'; it is not used this way on its own.

   Patterns

   • spill the beans
   • spill the beans about something

   Come on, spill the beans — who told you?

   She spilled the beans about the surprise party by accident.

Word forms

Common combinations

baked beans

He ate baked beans on toast for lunch.

green beans

Add the green beans to the boiling water.

coffee beans

She grinds coffee beans every morning.

spill the beans

Don't spill the beans about the gift.

full of beans

The children were full of beans after their nap.

Synonyms and how they differ

legumes

A technical word for this family of plants and their seeds; 'beans' is the everyday term used in cooking.

pulses

Refers to dried seeds like lentils and beans as a food group; 'beans' is more specific and common in speech.

Word family

bean noun

One single seed of these plants.

beanie noun

A small close-fitting hat; a different word that sounds similar.

beanbag noun

A soft seat filled with small beads or foam.

Commonly confused: beans or been?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “beans”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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