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Glite Dictionary
horse bean

horse bean

7.8
A type of broad bean grown to feed animals
  • noun
  • /hɔrs bin/
  • UK
translation icon : haba
  • The farmer planted horse bean to feed his livestock through the winter.

Examples

  • Farmers often grow horse beans for livestock feed.

  • The horse bean is rich in protein.

  • Horse bean is well-suited to poor soils and provides valuable nutrition for animals.

  • After harvesting the wheat, they alternated the field with a crop of horse bean.

  • Farmers often grow horse bean as a nutritious feed for their cattle.

  • The farmer decided to plant horse bean to ensure his animals had enough food during the winter.

  • A crop of horse bean improves soil quality and provides excellent nutrition for livestock.

Synonyms

fava
vshorse bean
6 4.6

A type of broad bean used in Mediterranean cooking

is less often grown for animal feed and more for human food and cooking
fava bean
vshorse bean
  • US
5 3.1

A large flat seed from the broad bean plant that people cook and eat

is more often cultivated to feed animals than to be used in cooking
field bean
vshorse bean
  • UK
5.6

A tall plant grown for large flat seeds eaten by people and fed to animals

is often grown for animal feed rather than for human consumption
horsebean
vshorse bean
  • Archaic
8.9

A seed from the broad bean plant used as food for people and animals

is typically cultivated more for animal feed than human use
broad-bean plant
vshorse bean
  • UK
4.7

A garden plant grown for its large flat beans that people or animals eat

is often cultivated to supply animals instead of people
broad bean
vshorse bean
  • UK
2.2

An upright plant grown for its large flat edible seeds and food for animals

is commonly grown more for animal feed than for human eating
English bean
vshorse bean
  • UK
3.0

A large flat bean that people cook and eat, also called fava

is often cultivated mainly to feed animals rather than people
Vicia faba
vshorse bean
  • Specialized
8.1

A plant from Europe and Asia that makes large flat beans people and animals eat

is the variety more often grown as animal feed than for people
European bean
vshorse bean
  • UK
4.2

A plant from Europe that produces large flat seeds eaten by people and fed to animals

is usually produced with animal feed use over human food

Surface Forms

horse bean singular
horse beans plural

Morphology

horse + bean

The compound follows a straightforward noun+noun composition where 'horse' modifies 'bean', so a learner who knows both words will readily infer it refers to a kind of bean associated with horses or used for horses (i.e., animal feed). This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically, making the meaning predictable even if the learner doesn't know the botanical specifics.

Etymology

Horse bean comes from farming: these large beans were mainly grown for horses and other animals to eat. So the name now means a kind of 'broad bean' used as 'animal feed'.