Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In the West Indies, a name for several species of beans belonging to the genus Dolichos, especially D. sphærospermus.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any
bean , but especially the hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus). - noun
Food made from beans.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
A corruption of garbanzo.
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Examples
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The word garbanzo came to English as "calavance" in the 17th century, from Old Spanish
Find Me A Cure 2009
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It is the custom on board slavers, I believe -- at least it was so on board the _Francesca_ -- to feed the slaves twice a day, the food consisting of a fairly liberal quantity of boiled rice, farina, or calavance beans -- these latter being used on account of their great fattening powers, whereby the slaves are maintained in a tolerably good condition of body -- with a pint of water at each meal.
The Pirate Slaver A Story of the West African Coast Harry Collingwood 1886
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