bean caper

8.7

A small bush whose pickled flower buds are used in cooking

noun

: alcaparra de frijol

Pickled bean caper buds add a tangy flavor to many dishes.

Examples

She planted a bean caper in her backyard to harvest fresh capers.
The bean caper is commonly found in Mediterranean gardens for its culinary uses.
I love adding bean capers to my salads.
The bean caper plant thrives in warm climates.
Pickled bean caper buds add a tangy flavor to many dishes.
The bean caper is commonly found in Mediterranean gardens for its culinary uses.
She planted a bean caper in her backyard to harvest fresh capers.

Synonyms

Syrian bean caper

vsbean caper

9.9

A bush from the eastern Mediterranean and southwest Asia whose flower buds are used as capers in cooking

is the same species but presented under a different name form

Zygophyllum fabago

vsbean caper

Specialized

9.9

A shrub that lives many years from the eastern Mediterranean and southwest Asia with flower buds sometimes pickled as capers

emphasizes that the buds are used generally rather than only sometimes

Surface Forms

bean caper singular

bean capers plural

Morphology

bean + caper

The noun is compositionally transparent: 'bean' modifies 'caper', so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a caper-related plant or a caper produced from a bean/bean-like plant. Naming plants by combining constituents is common across languages, making the botanical sense (a shrub whose buds are used as capers) predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Bean caper is the name of a small shrub whose tiny, round buds look a little like beans and are picked and pickled as capers for cooking, so the name points to the plant and its edible buds.