soybean

noun

soy·​bean ˈsȯi-ˌbēn 

variants or chiefly British soya bean

ˈsȯi-ə- 

: a hairy annual Asian legume (Glycine max) widely grown for its oil-rich proteinaceous seeds and for forage and soil improvement

also : its seed

Illustration of soybean

Examples of soybean in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Crude oil became the country’s top export in 2024 for the first time, overtaking soybeans, and there are hopes production will ramp up much further. —Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 10 Nov. 2025

The White House said China will buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans by the end of this year and 25 million for each of the next three years. —Eunice Yoon, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2025

Most of the state’s soybeans are exported to China, Canada and Mexico, according to the Wisconsin Soybean Association. —Anna Kleiber, jsonline.com, 10 Nov. 2025

Even in soybeans, a notoriously difficult crop to modify, the method achieved efficient gene editing with minimal tissue culture steps. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 6 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1795, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing soybean

• soybean oil

Rhymes for soybean

• agin
• alkene
• allene
• ameen
• amin
• amine
• arene
• athene
• baleen
• beeline
• benzene
• between

Kids Definition

soybean

noun

soy·​bean ˈsȯi-ˈbēn 

-ˌbēn

: a hairy annual Asian plant of the legume family widely grown for its edible seeds rich in oil and proteins, as food for livestock, and for soil improvement

also : its seed

Medical Definition

soybean

noun

soy·​bean ˈsȯi-ˌbēn 

variants also soya bean

: a hairy annual Asian legume (Glycine max) grown for its oil-rich proteinaceous seeds and for forage and soil improvement

also : its seed