A bean is a type of seed that grows in a pod on certain plants and serves as an important food around the world. Beans come in many varieties: kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans, lima beans, and navy beans, among others. They're packed with protein and fiber, which is why they've been a staple food for thousands of years in cultures from Mexico to the Middle East to East Asia.

When you eat baked beans, chili, or hummus (made from chickpeas, which are also beans), you're eating these nutritious seeds. Some beans, like green beans, are eaten with their pods still on when they're young and tender. Others, like black beans or chickpeas, are dried and then soaked in water and cooked before eating.

The word bean also refers to seeds that look similar but aren't true beans, like coffee beans (which are actually the seeds of coffee cherries) and cocoa beans (used to make chocolate).

People sometimes use “bean” playfully in expressions. If someone doesn't have “a bean,” they don't have any money at all. And if you accidentally tell a secret, someone might say you “spilled the beans.”