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

Chinese soybean imports climbed 13% in September from a year earlier, according to the official data, although details on sources of these crops were not immediately available. —Anniek Bao,evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 13 Oct. 2025

Then, after Argentina temporarily scrapped export taxes on grains, China swooped in and bought tens of thousands of pounds of Argentine soybeans instead. —Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 12 Oct. 2025

There’s concern among some Republicans that US soybean farmers, who compete with their Argentine peers to sell the crop to China, may be inadvertent victims of the rescue plan. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2025

This is especially acute in North Dakota and soybeans are less suitable for temporary storage on the ground than corn. —Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 12 Oct. 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