LEGUME

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does legume mean? 

• LEGUME (noun)
  The noun LEGUME has 3 senses:

1. an erect or climbing bean or pea plant of the family Leguminosae

2. the fruit or seed of any of various bean or pea plants consisting of a case that splits along both sides when ripe and having the seeds attach to one side of the case

3. the seedpod of a leguminous plant (such as peas or beans or lentils)

  Familiarity information: LEGUME used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LEGUME (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An erect or climbing bean or pea plant of the family Leguminosae

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

legume; leguminous plant

Hypernyms ("legume" is a kind of...):

climber (a vine or climbing plant that readily grows up a support or over other plants)

herb; herbaceous plant (a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests)

Meronyms (parts of "legume"):

legume (the fruit or seed of any of various bean or pea plants consisting of a case that splits along both sides when ripe and having the seeds attach to one side of the case)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "legume"):

bean; bean plant (any of various leguminous plants grown for their edible seeds and pods)

asparagus bean; Vigna sesquipedalis; Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis; yard-long bean (South American bean having very long succulent pods)

black-eyed pea; cowpea; cowpea plant; Vigna sinensis; Vigna unguiculata (sprawling Old World annual cultivated especially in southern United States for food and forage and green manure)

mung; mung bean; mung bean plant; Phaseolus aureus; Vigna radiata (erect bushy annual widely cultivated in warm regions of India and Indonesia and United States for forage and especially its edible seeds; chief source of bean sprouts used in Chinese cookery; sometimes placed in genus Phaseolus)

corkscrew flower; Phaseolus caracalla; snail-flower; snail bean; snail flower; snailflower; Vigna caracalla (perennial tropical American vine cultivated for its racemes of showy yellow and purple flowers having the corolla keel coiled like a snail shell; sometimes placed in genus Phaseolus)

adsuki bean; adzuki bean; Phaseolus angularis; Vigna angularis (bushy annual widely grown in China and Japan for the flour made from its seeds)

moth bean; Phaseolus aconitifolius; Vigna aconitifolia (East Indian legume having hairy foliage and small yellow flowers followed by cylindrical pods; used especially in India for food and forage and as a soil conditioner; sometimes placed in genus Phaseolus)

vetch (any of various climbing plants of the genus Vicia having pinnately compound leaves that terminate in tendrils and small variously colored flowers; includes valuable forage and soil-building plants)

sesbania (any of various plants of the genus Sesbania having pinnate leaves and large showy pea-like flowers)

pea; pea plant (a leguminous plant of the genus Pisum with small white flowers and long green pods containing edible green seeds)

crazy weed; crazyweed; locoweed (any of several leguminous plants of western North America causing locoism in livestock)

Dolichos biflorus; horse grain; horse gram; Macrotyloma uniflorum; poor man's pulse (twining herb of Old World tropics cultivated in India for food and fodder; sometimes placed in genus Dolichos)

Lens culinaris; lentil; lentil plant (widely cultivated Eurasian annual herb grown for its edible flattened seeds that are cooked like peas and also ground into meal and for its leafy stalks that are used as fodder)

wild pea (any of various plants of the family Leguminosae that usually grow like vines)

Glycine max; soja; soja bean; soy; soya; soya bean; soybean; soybean plant (erect bushy hairy annual herb having trifoliate leaves and purple to pink flowers; extensively cultivated for food and forage and soil improvement but especially for its nutritious oil-rich seeds; native to Asia)

cluster bean; Cyamopsis psoraloides; Cyamopsis tetragonolobus; guar (drought-tolerant herb grown for forage and for its seed which yield a gum used as a thickening agent or sizing material)

chickpea; chickpea plant; Cicer arietinum; Egyptian pea (Asiatic herb cultivated for its short pods with one or two edible seeds)

Arachis hypogaea; peanut; peanut vine (widely cultivated American plant cultivated in tropical and warm regions; showy yellow flowers on stalks that bend over to the soil so that seed pods ripen underground)

Holonyms ("legume" is a member of...):

Fabaceae; family Fabaceae; family Leguminosae; legume family; Leguminosae; pea family (a large family of trees, shrubs, vines, and herbs bearing bean pods; divided for convenience into the subfamilies Caesalpiniaceae; Mimosaceae; Papilionaceae)

Derivation:

leguminous (relating to or consisting of legumes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The fruit or seed of any of various bean or pea plants consisting of a case that splits along both sides when ripe and having the seeds attach to one side of the case

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("legume" is a kind of...):

pod; seedpod (a several-seeded dehiscent fruit as e.g. of a leguminous plant)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "legume"):

chickpea; garbanzo (the seed of the chickpea plant)

lentil (the fruit or seed of a lentil plant)

pea (the fruit or seed of a pea plant)

field pea (seed of the field pea plant)

black-eyed pea; cowpea (fruit or seed of the cowpea plant)

Holonyms ("legume" is a part of...):

legume; leguminous plant (an erect or climbing bean or pea plant of the family Leguminosae)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The seedpod of a leguminous plant (such as peas or beans or lentils)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("legume" is a kind of...):

veg; vegetable; veggie (edible seeds or roots or stems or leaves or bulbs or tubers or nonsweet fruits of any of numerous herbaceous plant)

Meronyms (substance of "legume"):

protein (any of a large group of nitrogenous organic compounds that are essential constituents of living cells; consist of polymers of amino acids; essential in the diet of animals for growth and for repair of tissues; can be obtained from meat and eggs and milk and legumes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "legume"):

bean; edible bean (any of various edible seeds of plants of the family Leguminosae used for food)

lentil (round flat seed of the lentil plant used for food)

pea (seed of a pea plant used for food)

chickpea; garbanzo (large white roundish Asiatic legume; usually dried)

black-eyed pea; cowpea (eaten fresh as shell beans or dried)

pulse (edible seeds of various pod-bearing plants (peas or beans or lentils etc.))

 Context examples 

Legumes are the most numerous, numbering almost 1,380 species.

(Inventory revises down Amazon tree species list, SciDev.Net)

In food, fiber is the part of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains that cannot be digested.

(Dietary Fiber, NCI Dictionary)

Peanuts were included even though they are actually a legume because they have a similar fatty acid and nutrient profile as other nuts.

(Eating Regular Variety of Nuts Associated with Lower Risk of Heart Disease, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and teas are rich sources of phytonutrients.

(Phytochemical, NCI Thesaurus)

An enlargement or swelling on the roots of legumes and certain other plants inhabited by symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

(Nodule, Food and Drug Administration)

A substance found in many foods that come from plants, including corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans, and in large amounts in cereals and legumes.

(Inositol hexaphosphate, NCI Dictionary)

Complex carbohydrates include whole grain breads and cereals, starchy vegetables and legumes.

(Carbohydrates, NIH)

Researchers say the study “included all kinds of tree nuts” like hazelnuts, walnuts and peanuts, which are legumes.

(Daily Handful of Nuts Reduces Disease Risk, VOA)

Alternatively, eating more plant-based proteins and fats from foods such as vegetables, legumes, and nuts was linked to lower mortality.

(Moderate Carbohydrate Intake May be Best for Health, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The phenomenon could be exploited in beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, peanuts, soybeans and other legumes.

(Scientists discover new antibiotic in tropical forest, National Science Foundation)