bean (bēn)
n.

1. 1. Any of various New World twining herbs of the genus Phaseolus in the pea family, having leaves with three leaflets, variously colored flowers, and edible pods and seeds.
   2. A seed or pod of any of these plants.
2. Any of several related plants or their seeds or pods, such as the adzuki bean, broad bean, or soybean.
3. Any of various other plants or their seeds or fruits, especially those suggestive of beans, such as the coffee bean or the vanilla bean.
4. Slang. A person's head.
5. beans Slang. A small amount: I don't know beans about investing.
6. Chiefly British. A fellow; a chap.

tr.v. Slang, beaned, bean·ing, beans.
To hit (another) on the head with a thrown object, especially a pitched baseball.

idioms:

full of beans

1. Energetic; frisky: The children were too full of beans to sit still.
2. Badly mistaken: Don't believe him; he's full of beans.

spill the beans

1. To disclose a secret.

[Middle English ben, broad bean, from Old English bēan.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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