locust bean
- noun
- /ˈloʊkəst biːn/
:
algarrobo
- Farmers frequently use dried locust beans as animal feed during the dry season.
Examples
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Some health food stores sell locust bean powder as a chocolate substitute.
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The extract from the locust bean is often used as a natural thickener in food products.
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The locust bean is often used in animal feed.
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Many farmers use locust beans to supplement their livestock's diet.
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Farmers frequently use dried locust beans as animal feed during the dry season.
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Some health food stores sell locust bean powder as a chocolate substitute.
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Many farmers use locust beans to supplement their livestock's diet.
Synonyms
1
7.7
A long brown pod from the Mediterranean tree with sweet edible pulp
A long dark brown pod from a carob tree with a sweet soft inside used like chocolate
A long pod with sweet pulp and small beans people and animals eat, often used like chocolate
A Mediterranean tree that always has green leaves and grows sweet edible pods used like chocolate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is compositionally a 'bean' associated with 'locust' (i.e., the locust tree), so a learner who knows the botanical sense of 'locust' could infer it refers to a pod/seed of that tree. However, 'locust' is more commonly known as an insect and the referent (carob pod) is specialized vocabulary, so the meaning is only partially predictable to a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
The name locust bean may come from an old Bible story: people called the sweet carob pods locusts because the long pods looked like the insects said to be eaten in the story. The word bean refers to the small seeds inside, so locust bean today means the long carob pod used as animal feed and as a natural food thickener.