yard-long bean

noun

: the edible 1- to 3-foot (0.3- to 0.9-meter) long thin stringless pod of a south Asian plant of a subspecies (Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis) of the cowpea
also : the plant

Examples of yard-long bean in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Vegetables: Boniato, calabaza, cherry tomato, okra, Southern pea, Seminole pumpkin, sweet cassava, roselle, sweet potato and yard-long bean; start transplants of eggplant, peppers and tomatoes from seed in mid-July 4. Tom MacCubbin, orlandosentinel.com, 26 June 2021 Use frozen green beans if fresh or yard-long beans are unavailable. Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 9 Dec. 2019 Vegetables: Boniato, calabaza, cherry tomato, okra, Southern pea, Seminole pumpkin, sweet cassava, roselle, sweet potato and yard-long bean; start transplants of eggplant, peppers and tomatoes from seed in mid July. 4. Tom MacCubbin, OrlandoSentinel.com, 30 June 2018 Asia was home to adzuki, soybeans, winged beans, mung and urad dal, and Africa produced cowpeas, yard-long beans, pigeon peas, Dolichos lablab beans and black-eyed peas. Margaret Lauterbach, idahostatesman, 14 Mar. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1926, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of yard-long bean was in 1926

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Yard-long bean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yard-long%20bean. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!