Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In the southwestern United States, either of two species of palo verde, Parkinsonia aculeata and P. microphylla, the twigs of which are eaten by horses.
  • noun A sort of bean so called from being fed to horses, or from its large size. The Jamaica horse-bean is Canavalia gladiata, having large legumes.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The seed of the broad-bean plant.
  • noun A large shrub or shrubby tree (Parkinsonia aculeata) having sharp spines and pinnate leaves with small deciduous leaflets and sweet-scented racemose yellow-orange flowers; grown as ornamentals or hedging or emergency food for livestock; originating in tropical America but naturalized in the Southern U. S.

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

  • noun seed of the broad-bean plant
  • noun large shrub or shrubby tree having sharp spines and pinnate leaves with small deciduous leaflets and sweet-scented racemose yellow-orange flowers; grown as ornamentals or hedging or emergency food for livestock; tropical America but naturalized in southern United States
  • noun a bean plant cultivated for use animal fodder

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • The sand-box tree of the West Indies has large round fruits, containing seeds about as big as an English horsebean; and the capsule explodes, when ripe, with a detonation like a pistol, scattering its contents with as much violence as a shot from an air-gun.

    Science in Arcady Grant Allen 1873

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