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

Many don’t like it when Wall Street seems to treat housing as a transient generic investment vehicle in the same bucket as stocks and soybean futures. —Joshua Stein, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025

Researchers attached these sensors to several groups of tobacco and soybean plants. —Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 19 Mar. 2025

Closer to home, two large soybean processing plants recently opened in North Dakota. —Kirk Siegler, NPR, 14 Mar. 2025

China retaliated against President Trump’s tariffs with an additional 15% tax on key American farm products, including chicken, pork, soybeans and beef. —Paul Wiseman, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 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