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• bream
  bream

  noun

  any of various freshwater fishes of the genus Abramis, as A. brama, of Europe, with a compressed, deep body and silvery scales.
• Bream
  Bream

  noun

  Julian (Alexander), 1933–2020, English guitarist and lutenist.

bream

¹ American  

[brim, breem] / brɪm, brim /

noun

• bream,
  plural
• breams
  plural

1. any of various freshwater fishes of the genus Abramis, as A. brama, of Europe, with a compressed, deep body and silvery scales.

2. any of various related and similar fishes.

3. any of several porgies, as the sea bream, Archosargus rhomboidalis.

4. any of several freshwater sunfishes of the genus Lepomis.

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bream ² American  

[breem] / brim /

verb (used with object)

Nautical.

1. to clean (a ship's bottom) by applying burning furze, reeds, etc., to soften the pitch and loosen adherent matter.

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Bream ³ American  

[breem] / brim /

noun

1. Julian (Alexander), 1933–2020, English guitarist and lutenist.

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bream ¹ British  

/ brɪm, briːm, brɪm /

noun

1. any of several Eurasian freshwater cyprinid fishes of the genus Abramis , esp A. brama , having a deep compressed body covered with silvery scales

2. a similar cyprinid, Blicca bjoerkna

3. short for sea bream

4. any of various marine fishes

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Bream ² British  

/ briːm /

noun

1. Julian ( Alexander ). born 1933, English guitarist and lutenist

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bream ³ British  

/ briːm /

verb

1. nautical (formerly) to clean debris from (the bottom of a vessel) by heating to soften the pitch

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bream
  plural
• breams
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of bream¹

1350–1400; Middle English breme < Anglo-French; Old French bresme, braisme < Old Low Franconian *brahsima; compare Old High German brahsema, Dutch brasem

Origin of bream²

1620–30; < Middle Dutch brem ( e ) furze

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bream Bream breams

He then held up a large sea bream as a symbol of good luck and celebration.

From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025

The sea bass and bream are always tasty.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

The main course, a whole fried sea bream, served with a ginger fish sauce caramel, peanuts, herbs, lemon, and wild pepper leaves to delicately wrap each fried morsel, truly blew me away.

From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2025

Because all the conventional problems of filmmaking — like flubbed lines and imperfect framing — exist alongside the possibility of dropping a perfectly cooked sea bream, a dish was waiting if another take was needed.

From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2024

The boatman plied his homemade nets not far from shore and brought in fat bream and tiger fish.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

The “G3” in the company name references a nickname for the third generation of the Gallo clan, but Gallo and G3 Enterprises are legally independent companies, Bream said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Here is some of what that version involves, from an interview two weeks ago by Shannon Bream of “Fox News Sunday” with Megan Romer, national co-chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

On “Fox News Sunday,” anchor Shannon Bream allocated a mere four seconds to the entire event, treating it as a footnote before moving on to interview a Democratic senator.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Winston's new owners, Lisa and Mark Bream, said it had been "heartwarming" to watch his progress, adding he had "brought so much love" to the family.

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

Letters patent granted the custody of the Gablewood to Henry Bream.

From The Forest of Dean An Historical and Descriptive Account by H. G. (Henry George) Nicholls

After a minute marked by tense silence, two breams emerged from the hole.

From National Geographic ● Mar. 16, 2018

Since arriving in the Solomon Islands, we have found biofluorescence in lineages in which it never has been reported before, including breams and flatheads.

From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2012

Their chief fish are bonitos, snooks, cavallies, breams, and mullets; and they have abundance of sea-tortoises; and the island has many harbours, creeks, and rivers.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 10 Arranged in systematic order: Forming a complete history of the origin and progress of navigation, discovery, and commerce, by sea and land, from the earliest ages to the present time. by Robert Kerr

There was another fish like barbilles, and another like breams, headed like a delicate fish, called in Spain besugo, between red and gray.

From A Narrative of the expedition of Hernando de Soto into Florida published at Evora in 1557 by A Gentleman of Elvas [pseud.]

We had also cavallies, gropers, large breams, maids, silver-fish, congers of a particular kind; and above all, a black fish which we esteemed most, called by some the chimney-sweeper, in shape somewhat resembling a carp.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 11 Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Robert Kerr

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