soybean

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun An annual leguminous plant (Glycine max) native to East Asia, widely cultivated for its seeds, which are used for food, as a source of oil, and as animal feed.
• noun A seed of this plant.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun See soy, 2.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Bot.) An Asiatic leguminous herb (Glycine max, formerly Glycine Soja) the seeds of which (also called soy beans) are used in preparing the sauce called soy. Called also soya bean and soya.
• noun the seeds of the Glycine max, which produce soybean oil; -- called also soya bean.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A legume plant (scientific name Glycine max), commonly cultivated for human and animal consumption and as a nitrogen-fixing ground cover.
• noun The edible seed of this plant.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a source of oil; used for forage and soil improvement and as food
• noun erect bushy hairy annual herb having trifoliate leaves and purple to pink flowers; extensively cultivated for food and forage and soil improvement but especially for its nutritious oil-rich seeds; native to Asia
• noun the most highly proteinaceous vegetable known; the fruit of the soybean plant is used in a variety of foods and as fodder (especially as a replacement for animal protein)