Mexican jumping bean

American  

noun

1. jumping bean.

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Etymology

Origin of Mexican jumping bean

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Watching Senate Democrats high-stepping and hopping around like a bunch of Mexican jumping beans in a hot skillet this week sure has been hilarious — if not entirely illuminating.

From Washington Times

It wasn’t trickery, but an odd twist in the natural world that creates the novelty of “Mexican jumping beans.”

From Salon

Perhaps most unexpected will be a look at how the artist worked closely with others, as he did with the painter Philip Pearlstein on an unfinished children’s book about a Mexican jumping bean.

From New York Times

Bean Dreams is a fun, simple platformer on your iPhone in which you play a Mexican jumping bean that can't stop jumping; this frees your thumbs up to only move your character left or right.

From The Verge

Mexican jumping beans and magnets are the most magical things I can recall from childhood.

From The Verge