bead

[beed]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bead ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

beads,

a necklace of beads: You don't have your beads on this evening.
a rosary.
Obsolete.devotions; prayers.

any small globular or cylindrical body.

a drop of liquid: beads of moisture.

a bubble rising through effervescent liquid.

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

the front sight of a rifle or gun.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

verb (used with object)

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

to ornament with beads.

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

verb (used without object)

to form beads; form in beads or drops: perspiration beading on his forehead.

Nearby words

Idioms

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.

draw/get a bead on, to take careful aim at: The marksman drew a bead on his target.

Origin of bead

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 bid¹, German Gebet

SYNONYMS FOR bead

4. droplet, globule, blob, dot.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bead ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsbead·like, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for bead

The wall directly opposite the entrance was covered in colorful glass and bead mosaics.
A Little Too Off the Beaten Path in Burma|Katya Cengel|June 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The bead embroidery on the back of her coat said “Revolution.”
Ilya Yashin & Ksenia Sobchak, the Russian Opposition’s Romeo & Juliet|Anna Nemtsova|December 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It also takes years of training to be able to sew, embroider, bead, and otherwise embellish these clothes.
Chanel, Armani, and Givenchy Present Their Haute-Couture Collections in Paris|Robin Givhan|July 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In contrast, Hell on Wheels often has too much happening to get a bead on where the story is going.
‘Hell on Wheels’ Has Found Its Way|Allen Barra|January 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Getting the gun out quickly and drawing a bead on a target, I decided, would challenge even Billy the Kid.
Ranger Rick and the Coyote|Carol Flake Chapman|September 10, 2011|DAILY BEAST
He drew his bead back into the room and looked at Emma with a laugh of satisfaction.
Demos|George Gissing
I could carry my bead purse to school every day, or wear my coral chain a little while before I go to sleep at night.
New Chronicles of Rebecca|Kate Douglas Wiggin
A bead similar in shape, color and marking rested at that very moment over my own heart.
The Millionaire Baby|Anna Katharine Green
If the bead is completely saturated, it retains its opalescent appearance.
A System of Instruction in the Practical Use of the Blowpipe|Anonymous
A shell somewhat similar to this made into a bead was found in the Nez Perce region.
The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley|Harlan Ingersoll Smith

British Dictionary definitions for bead

bead

noun

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

a small drop of moisturea bead of sweat

a small bubble in or on a liquid

a small metallic knob acting as the sight of a firearm

draw a bead on to aim a rifle or pistol at

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

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)

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

RC Church one of the beads of a rosary

count one's beads, say one's beads or tell one's beads to pray with a rosary

verb

(tr) to decorate with beads

to form into beads or drops

Derived Formsbeaded, adjective

Word Origin for bead

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

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 bead

bead

mid-14c., bede "prayer bead," from Old English gebed "prayer," with intensive or collective prefix *ge- + Proto-Germanic *bidjan "to pray, entreat" (cf. Middle Dutch bede, Old High German beta, German bitte, Gothic bida "prayer, request"), from PIE *gwhedh- "to ask, pray." Shift in meaning came via beads threaded on a string to count prayers, and in phrases like to bid one's beads, to count one's beads. German cognate Bitte is the usual word for conversational request "please." Also related to bid (Old English biddan) and Gothic bidjan "to ask, pray." Sense transferred to "drop of liquid" 1590s; to "small knob forming front sight of a gun" 1831 (Kentucky slang); hence draw a bead on "take aim at," 1841, U.S. colloquial.

bead

1570s, "to adorn with beads," from bead (n.). Meaning "to string like beads" is from 1883. Related: Beaded; beading.

Idioms and Phrases with bead

bead

see draw a bead on.

bead

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Idioms

Origin of bead

Examples from the Web for bead

bead

noun

verb

Word Origin for bead

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