n. [ Chinese shōyū. ] 1. A Chinese and Japanese liquid sauce for fish, etc., made by subjecting boiled beans (esp. soybeans), or beans and meal, to long fermentation and then long digestion in salt and water. [ 1913 Webster ]
(n) 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, Syn. soybean, soja, soybean plant, Glycine max, soya, soja bean, soya bean
(n) 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), Syn. soybean, soya, soya bean