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

Wheat and soy are some of the nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. —Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 11 Aug. 2025

Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty Tariffs Putting Pressure on Crop Prices Boyd has been farming since the early 1980s, currently growing soybeans, corn and wheat across 1,500 acres in Virginia while raising 150 head of beef cattle. —Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Aug. 2025

The 300-acre site on Zion Church Road in Salisbury includes a feed mill, a soybean extraction plant, an oil refinery and grain storage infrastructure. —Dan Belson, Baltimore Sun, 31 July 2025

Prime spots include swaths of private farm ground (with crops like corn, milo, and soybeans) next to public tracts. —Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 30 July 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