What does beaned mean?
"Beaned" is the past tense and past participle of the informal verb "to bean," meaning to strike someone on the head, most often with a ball. The word comes from baseball slang, where "bean" has long served as humorous shorthand for the head, and a pitch deliberately thrown at a batter's head is known as a beanball. In typical use, a player gets beaned by an inside fastball, though the term extends casually to any blow to the head — from a snowball to a falling apple. The word carries a colloquial, often jocular tone; it appears constantly in sports reporting and playground banter but rarely in formal prose. Despite its lighthearted sound, being beaned can be genuinely dangerous, as head injuries from pitched balls are taken seriously in baseball. For anyone writing about sport, slang, or everyday mishaps, "beaned" offers a vivid, instantly understood alternative to blander verbs like "hit" or "struck."
verb (past tense and past participle of 'bean')Hit on the head, especially with a thrown object such as a baseball. Used figuratively, it can also mean to strike someone forcefully on the skull.
- Struck on the head, especially by a pitched or thrown ball
- (Figurative/informal) hit hard on the skull with any object
"The pitcher accidentally beaned the batter with a fastball."
"The batter was beaned by an inside fastball in the third inning."
"He got beaned by a stray snowball during the recess free-for-all."
In baseball slang, hitting a batter is so common it earned its own verb — and a pitch aimed at the head even has a name: the beanball.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of beaned
The noun "bean" as slang for the head arose in American English in the early twentieth century, playing on older senses of the word for small round objects; the verb "to bean" — to hit someone on the head — developed directly from this slang use, first in baseball contexts. The underlying word "bean" itself descends from Old English "bēan," a common Germanic agricultural term related to German "Bohne" and Dutch "boon." The baseball sense is therefore a modern American extension of one of English's oldest native plant words rather than a borrowing from another language.
Related word forms
How beaned is actually used
Informal register, strongly associated with American sports commentary, particularly baseball. The passive ('got beaned') is very common in casual speech. Not used in formal writing.
Easily confused with beaned
'Beamed' means smiled broadly or transmitted a signal, while 'beaned' means struck on the head.
'Been' is the past participle of 'be', whereas 'beaned' is the past form of the verb meaning to hit someone on the head.