lima bean

[ lahy-muh ]

noun

1. a bean, Phaseolus limensis, having a broad, flat, edible seed.
2. the seed, used for food.

lima bean

/ ˈliː-; ˈlaɪmə /

noun

1. any of several varieties of the bean plant, Phaseolus lunatus (or P. limensis ), native to tropical America but cultivated in the US for its flat pods containing pale green edible seeds
2. the seed of such a plant

Word History and Origins

Origin of lima bean¹

1810–20; named after Lima, Peru

Word History and Origins

Origin of lima bean¹

C19: named after Lima

Example Sentences

It’s made with pumpkin seeds, coconut oil and lima beans, among other ingredients, but it tastes mind-bogglingly like the real thing.

From Los Angeles Times

The blue, whose top three ingredients are organic pumpkin seeds, organic coconut oil, and lima beans, was very close; it got me at first with its sharp tang and characteristic crumbliness.

From Salon

The family emigrated from Germany and settled in the Oxnard area in the late 1800s, farming sugar beets and lima beans before moving into citrus, then row crops.

From Los Angeles Times

They soak and boil them in chicken broth to extract their meaty flavor, then cook rice in that stock and add lima beans.

From Seattle Times

Its site in Westchester — a wide, flat stretch along the sea that once yielded handsome harvests of lima beans and barley — was an aviation natural.

From Los Angeles Times