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What is "lima bean"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lima bean

Lima \Li"ma\ (l[=e]"m[.a] or l[imac]"m[.a]), n. The capital city of Peru, in South America. Lima bean. (Bot.)

  1. A variety of climbing or pole bean ( Phaseolus lunatus), which has very large flattish seeds.

  2. The seed of this plant, much used for food.

    Lima wood (Bot.), the beautiful dark wood of the South American tree C[ae]salpinia echinata.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
lima bean

1756, associated with Lima, Peru, from which region the plant (Phaseolus lunatus) was introduced to Europe c.1500. Among the earliest New World crops to be known in the Old World, Simmonds' "Dictionary of Trade" (1858) describes it as "esteemed," but it has the consistency of a diseased dog kidney.

Wiktionary
lima bean

n. The butter bean, (taxlink Phaseolus lunatus species noshow=1).

WordNet
lima bean

  1. n. bush bean plant cultivated especially in southern United States having small flat edible seeds [syn: sieva bean, butter bean, butter-bean plant, Phaseolus lunatus]

  2. bush or tall-growing bean plant having large flat edible seeds [syn: lima bean plant, Phaseolus limensis]

  3. broad flat beans simmered gently; never eaten raw

Usage examples of "lima bean".

It was about the size and shape of a lima bean, and his birth-mama had rendered it so perfect in her sketch that there was no mistaking: Johnny was her boy.

Daddy laughed and took a lima bean from one of the carefully arranged piles.

One was the size of a lima bean, the other the size of a grain of rice.

His idea of ventilation was to leave a hole in the wall about the size of a lima bean and let the thing go at that.

In the sky the third moon, the one shaped like a lima bean (I hate lima beans), was catching up to the second.

You merely carve it in small pieces the size of a lima bean, put it in a pan with a little broth, and warm it gently.

The spot will probably swell and harden, feeling something like a small almond or a lima bean beneath the wall surface, and the sensations you feel may progress from the eliminative to the sexual.

Bud had the top off a can, and took out a couple of nuggets the size of a cooked Lima bean.

These dishes always had names like Rice Krispies 'n' Banana Chunks Upside Down Cake or Del Monte Lima Bean 'n' Pretzels Party Snacks.