Definition

1. Noun:
   • A variety of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) cultivated for its edible, yellow, stringless pods. The name refers to the pod's waxy, yellow color, distinguishing it from green-podded varieties.

Usage

• Noun:
  • For dinner, we had steamed wax beans with a little butter and salt.
  • The recipe calls for one pound of fresh wax beans, trimmed.

Advanced Usage

• The term wax bean can be used to refer to the plant itself, the immature pod harvested for eating, or the specific seed variety.
  • I'm planting a row of wax beans next to the green beans this year. (Referring to the plants/seeds)
  • The market had beautiful, slender wax beans today. (Referring to the harvested pods)

Variants and Related Words

• Yellow bean: A common synonym for wax bean.
• Butter bean: In some regions, this term is used interchangeably with wax bean, though it can also refer to lima beans, causing potential confusion.
• Green bean: The closely related variety with green pods, from which the wax bean is a color mutation.
• String bean: A general term for edible-podded beans, which can include both green and wax varieties, especially older cultivars with a fibrous "string."

Synonyms

• Yellow bean
• Butter bean (regional, context-dependent)

Related Terms and Contexts

• Haricot vert: A French term for a slender, delicate green bean; wax beans are a different color variant but belong to the same species.
• Snap bean: A broader category encompassing all common beans eaten for their tender, edible pods, including both green and wax beans. The pods "snap" crisply when broken.
• Shelling bean: A bean grown for its mature seeds inside the pod (e.g., kidney beans), not for the pod itself. This contrasts with wax beans, which are a pod bean.

Noun

1. snap beans with yellow pods
2. a common bean plant grown for its edible golden pod