noun

• A tropical American climbing plant of the pea family, which yields an edible bean and pod and is widely grown for fodder in tropical countries.

  Genus Canavalia, family Leguminosae: in particular C. ensiformis

  ‘The jack bean and the sword bean are very similar and are occasionally grown in home gardens around the state.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) is a bushy, semi-erect annual legume originated in the New World and which is grown mainly as green manure and as cover crop in soil erosion control programs.’