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

China imposed tariffs on soybeans, passenger vehicles, jets, oil and other commodities – many of which have not returned to pre-Trump levels. —Ken Roberts, Forbes.com, 31 May 2025

The agency says the major food allergens are milk, eggs, sesame, fish, tree nuts, crustacean shellfish, peanuts, wheat and soybeans. —Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 May 2025

But the next front in the trade war isn’t about crates of soybeans or textile factories. —Shannon Carroll, Quartz, 22 May 2025

Glyphosate is even more widely used: An average of 298 million acres of farmland are sprayed with the chemical annually, including soybean, cotton, corn and grapes. —Knvul Sheikh, New York Times, 22 May 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