Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several varieties of a tropical American plant (Phaseolus lunatus) having flat pods containing large light-green or white edible seeds.
  • noun A seed of this plant.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The butter bean, Phaseolus lunatus.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun broad flat beans simmered gently; never eaten raw
  • noun bush or tall-growing bean plant having large flat edible seeds
  • noun bush bean plant cultivated especially in southern United States having small flat edible seeds

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[After Lima, Peru.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Named after the city of Lima, from which they were exported.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word lima bean.

Examples

    Sorry, no example sentences found.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.