cocoa bean

noun

plural cocoa beans
: a dried, fermented, fatty seed of the fruit of a South American tropical evergreen tree (Theobroma cacao of the family Malvaceae) that is used in making cocoa, chocolate, and cocoa butter : cacao sense 1
The cocoa bean contains cocoa solids (particles) and about 53 percent cocoa butter.Rose Levy Beranbaum

Examples of cocoa bean in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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People there relied on growing and selling cacao, the source of cocoa beans, but wanted to be more than just suppliers of an ingredient. Jeff Young, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2025 And like last year, cocoa bean industry experts are expecting high price tags to be passed down to consumers. Ramishah Maruf, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2025 The vast majority of the world's cocoa beans grow in West Africa, where farmers have dealt with extreme weather, changing climate patterns and disease in their aging trees. Alina Selyukh, NPR, 24 Oct. 2025 The team then harvested fresh cocoa beans and sterilized them to ensure that no other microbes were present. New Atlas, 18 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for cocoa bean

Word History

First Known Use

1799, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cocoa bean was in 1799

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Cite this Entry

“Cocoa bean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cocoa%20bean. Accessed 18 Nov. 2025.

Medical Definition

cocoa bean

noun

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