bead

[ beed ]

/ bid /

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See synonyms for: bead / beaded / beading / beads on Thesaurus.com

Definition of bead

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR bead

4 droplet, globule, blob, dot.

See synonyms for bead on Thesaurus.com

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On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.

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Idioms about bead

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

OTHER WORDS FROM bead

beadlike, adjective

Words nearby bead

Beacon Hill, beacon school, Beaconsfield, beacon status, be a credit to, bead, bead and reel, beadblast, beaded, beaded hair, beaded lizard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use bead in a sentence

Each blanket is made from 100% cotton and contains non-toxic glass beads.
Best weighted blanket: Sleep like a baby with our comfy bedding picks|PopSci Commerce Team|February 12, 2021|Popular-Science
Pieces in the Wixarikas Collection are especially time consuming, requiring up to a week of work on just the colorful, detailed bead patterns.
Someone Please Buy Me This Gorgeous Cocktail Set|Nick Mancall-Bitel|December 30, 2020|Eater
Now researchers have demonstrated the bizarre effect for the first time in the laboratory by cooling glass beads as a proxy for the more complex freezing process of water.
From Elvis worms to the Milky Way’s edge, these science stories sparked joy in 2020|Erika Engelhaupt|December 17, 2020|Science News
They start their lives as ribbons of linear components, called amino acids, like beads on a string.
DeepMind’s AlphaFold Is Close to Solving One of Biology’s Greatest Challenges|Shelly Fan|December 15, 2020|Singularity Hub

In his rustic office, a cow tail with bead embroidery and a fez hanging above it like a crown are displayed on one wall.
East Africa’s Healers Embrace Modern Medicine to Treat Depression|Charu Kasturi|December 8, 2020|Ozy
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
You can turn it over 17 times in your head and not really get a clear bead on what all that craziness means.
The American Prophet of Delusion: Robert Stone in Conversation|David Samuels|November 15, 2013|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
He seemed to have abandoned himself to a reverie, and to be seeing pleasing visions in the amber bead.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
When the doctor arrived in the country, Butifer drew a bead on him, in a corner of the forest.
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z|Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
They are very timid, and will not look a stranger in the face, their bead-like eyes constantly shifting.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris
Before he could draw a bead, the rabbit vanished behind a distant scrub oak.
Restricted Tool|Malcolm B. Morehart
This projects some inches from the side of the boat, and the effect of this small bead in throwing off seas is most remarkable.
Yachting Vol. 2|Various.

British Dictionary definitions for bead

bead

/ (biːd) /

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 forms of bead

beaded, 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

Other Idioms and Phrases with bead

bead

see draw a bead on.

bead

Definition of bead

OTHER WORDS FOR bead

Idioms about bead

Origin of bead

OTHER WORDS FROM bead

Words nearby bead

Words related to bead

How to use bead in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bead

Derived forms of bead

Word Origin for bead

Other Idioms and Phrases with bead