abeam

[ uh-beem ]

/ əˈbim /

adverb

Nautical, Aeronautics. at right angles to the fore-and-aft line: The vessel was sailing with the wind directly abeam.

directly abreast the middle of a ship's side.

Nearby words

Origin of abeam

First recorded in 1830–40; a-¹ + beam

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for abeam

As it was we shipped several bad seas over the stern as well as abeam and over the bows, although we were ‘on a wind.’
South!|Sir Ernest Shackleton
The schooner flying the Mexican flag remained hove to abeam.
Romance|Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer
He secured another life-buoy for himself; and, as he donned the cork ring, a hail came from abeam.
The Wreck of the Titan|Morgan Robertson
When he first heard the pursuer's boat, it was just abeam of the Isabel.
Watch and Wait|Oliver Optic

There was half a gale blowing on the 4th and though the wind was abeam, the sail was reefed and we moved quickly.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson

British Dictionary definitions for abeam

abeam

/ (əˈbiːm) /

adverb, adjective

(postpositive) at right angles to the length and directly opposite the centre of a vessel or aircraft

Word Origin for abeam

C19: a- ² + beam

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for abeam

abeam

adv.

"at right angles to the keel," c.1836, nautical, literally "on beam;" see a- (1) + beam (n.).