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

The company, founded in 2004, uses organic, non-GMO soybeans and supplies grocery stores, restaurants and other food service businesses nationwide. — Sacbee.com, 2 Sep. 2026

Wheat is up roughly 20% this month, and soybeans have added more than 8%. — Bloomberg, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026

Then there’s Baicapil, a blend of baikal skullcap (a flowering plant native to East Asia), wheat germ, and soybean germ extracts intended to encourage a healthy hair-growth cycle. — Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 28 Aug. 2026

Across Europe, heat and water shortages have damaged maize, soybean and sunflower crops, with some harvest forecasts falling 14% below recent averages. — Shooka Bidarian, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1795, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing soybean

• soybean oil

Rhymes for soybean

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

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