bead

[beed]

noun

1. a small, usually round object of glass, wood, stone, or the like with a hole through it, often strung with others of its kind in necklaces, rosaries, etc.

2. beads,

   1. a necklace of beads.

      You don't have your beads on this evening.

   2. a rosary.

   3. Obsolete.,  devotions; prayers.

3. any small globular or cylindrical body.

4. a drop of liquid.

   beads of moisture.

   Synonyms: dot, blob, globule, droplet

5. a bubble rising through effervescent liquid.

6. Usually beads. a mass of such bubbles on the surface of a liquid.

7. the front sight of a rifle or gun.

8. a reinforced area of a rubber tire terminating the sidewall and fitting within the rim of a wheel.

9. Electricity.,  a glass, ceramic, or plastic insulator that contains and supports the inner conductor in a coaxial cable.

10. Chemistry.,  a globule of borax or some other flux, supported on a platinum wire, in which a small amount of some substance is heated in a flame as a test for its constituents.

11. Metallurgy.,  the rounded mass of refined metal obtained by cupellation.

12. Architecture, Furniture.,  a small molding having a convex circular section and, usually, a continuous cylindrical surface; astragal.

13. Welding.,  a continuous deposit of fused metal, either straight stringer bead or zigzag weave bead.

verb (used with object)

1. to form or cause to form beads or a bead on.

2. to ornament with beads.

3. Carpentry.,  to form a bead on (a piece).

verb (used without object)

1. to form beads; form in beads or drops.

   perspiration beading on his forehead.

bead

/ biːd /

noun

1. a small usually spherical piece of glass, wood, plastic, etc, with a hole through it by means of which it may be strung with others to form a necklace, etc

2. a small drop of moisture

   a bead of sweat

3. a small bubble in or on a liquid

4. a small metallic knob acting as the sight of a firearm

5. to aim a rifle or pistol at

6. Also called: astragal. architect carpentry a small convex moulding having a semicircular cross section

7. chem a small solid globule made by fusing a powdered sample with borax or a similar flux on a platinum wire. The colour of the globule serves as a test for the presence of certain metals ( bead test )

8. metallurgy a deposit of welding metal on the surface of a metal workpiece, often used to examine the structure of the weld zone

9. RC Church one of the beads of a rosary

10. to pray with a rosary

verb

1. (tr) to decorate with beads

2. to form into beads or drops

Other Word Forms

• beadlike adjective
• beaded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bead¹

before 900; Middle English bede prayer, prayer bead (where, on a rosary each bead symbolizes a prayer, the word for the notion symbolized was transferred to the designating object), Old English gebed prayer; akin to bid ¹, German Gebet

Word History and Origins

Origin of bead¹

Old English bed prayer; related to Old High German gibet prayer

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. count / say / tell one's beads, to say one's prayers, using rosary beads.

   There were a few old women counting their beads in the hushed silence of the chapel.

2. draw / get a bead on, to take careful aim at.

   The marksman drew a bead on his target.

see draw a bead on.

Example Sentences

A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as he removed another box.

Read more on Literature

Under the floorboards of her closet, Smith conceals “glittering refuse I had scavenged from trash bins, fragments of costume jewelry, rosary beads,” along with a blue toothbrush she’s invested with magical powers.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“But this poll shows there are very few of them out there. Voters have a bead on this one.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"I'm bursting with confidence now... not a single bead of sweat."

Read more on BBC

The beads candle holder — available in a kaleidoscopic multi-color as well as in all-black — proves candle holders can be art in and of themselves.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dot 
• pellet 
• stone