beam

[beem]

noun

1. any of various relatively long pieces of metal, wood, stone, etc., manufactured or shaped especially for use as rigid members or parts of structures or machines.

2. Building Trades.,  a horizontal bearing member, as a joist or lintel.

3. Engineering.,  a rigid member or structure supported at each end, subject to bending stresses from a direction perpendicular to its length.

4. Nautical.

   1. a horizontal structural member, usually transverse, for supporting the decks and flats of a vessel.

   2. the extreme width of a vessel.

   3. the shank of an anchor.

5. Aeronautics.,  the direction perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of an aircraft and outward from the side.

6. the widest part.

7. Slang.,  the measure across both hips or buttocks.

   broad in the beam.

8. Machinery.

   1. walking beam.

   2. (in a loom) a roller or cylinder on which the warp is wound before weaving.

   3. a similar cylinder on which cloth is wound as it is woven.

9. the crossbar of a balance, from the ends of which the scales or pans are suspended.

10. a ray of light.

    The sun shed its beams upon the vineyard.

11. a group of nearly parallel rays.

12. Radio, Aeronautics.,  a signal transmitted along a narrow course, used to guide pilots through darkness, bad weather, etc.

13. Electronics.,  a narrow stream of electrons, as that emitted from the electron gun of a cathode ray tube.

14. the angle at which a microphone or loudspeaker functions best.

15. the cone-shaped range of effective use of a microphone or loudspeaker.

16. Citizens Band Radio Slang.,  beam antenna.

17. a gleam; suggestion.

    a beam of hope.

18. a radiant smile.

19. the principal stem of the antler of a deer.

verb (used with object)

1. to emit in or as in beams or rays.

2. Radio.,  to transmit (a signal) in a particular direction.

3. Radio and Television.,  to direct (a program, commercial message, etc.) to a predetermined audience.

verb (used without object)

1. to emit beams, as of light.

2. to smile radiantly or happily.

beam

/ biːm /

noun

1. a long thick straight-sided piece of wood, metal, concrete, etc, esp one used as a horizontal structural member

2. any rigid member or structure that is loaded transversely

3. the breadth of a ship or boat taken at its widest part, usually amidships

4. a ray or column of light, as from a beacon

5. a broad smile

6. one of the two cylindrical rollers on a loom, one of which holds the warp threads before weaving, the other the finished work

7. the main stem of a deer's antler from which the smaller branches grow

8. the central shaft of a plough to which all the main parts are attached

9. a narrow unidirectional flow of electromagnetic radiation or particles

   a beam of light

   an electron beam

10. the horizontal centrally pivoted bar in a balance

11. informal,  the width of the hips (esp in the phrase broad in the beam )

12. a fault or grave error greater in oneself than in another person

13. 1. not following a radio beam to maintain a course

    2. informal,  wrong, mistaken, or irrelevant

14. 1. following a radio beam to maintain a course

    2. nautical opposite the beam of a vessel; abeam

    3. informal,  correct, relevant, or appropriate

verb

1. to send out or radiate (rays of light)

2. (tr) to divert or aim (a radio signal or broadcast, light, etc) in a certain direction

   to beam a programme to Tokyo

3. to pass (data, esp business card details, etc) from one hand-held computer to another by means of infrared beams

4. (intr) to smile broadly with pleasure or satisfaction

Other Word Forms

• beamlike adjective
• beamed adjective
• beaming adjective
• beamless adjective
• beamy adjective
• outbeam verb (used with object)
• unbeamed adjective
• underbeam noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of beam¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English beem, Old English bēam “tree, post, ray of light”; cognate with Old Frisian bām, Old Saxon bōm, Dutch boom, Old High German boum ( German Baum ), Gothic bagms, Old Norse bathmr tree; the identity of the consonant which has assimilated itself to the following m is unclear, as is the original root; perhaps unattested Germanic bagmaz, from unattested bargmaz, from unattested Indo-European bhorǵh-mos “growth”; barrow ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of beam¹

Old English beam ; related to Gothic bagms tree, Old High German boum tree

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. fly the beam, (of an aircraft) to be guided by a beam.

2. off the beam,

   1. not on the course indicated by a radio beam.

   2. Informal. wrong; incorrect.

      The pollsters were off the beam again for the last presidential election.

3. beam in, to be received under optimum conditions; be heard loud and clear.

   They told me I was really beaming in.

4. on the beam,

   1. on the course indicated by a radio beam, as an airplane.

   2. Nautical. at right angles to the keel.

   3. Informal. proceeding well; correct; exact.

      Their research is right on the beam and the results should be very valuable.

see broad in the beam; off the beam.

Synonym Study

See gleam. See shine ¹.

Example Sentences

The systems explode, collide, fire pellets, jam radios, beam lasers and even shoot nets like Spider-Man.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The first, “Scanlines,” concerns German and American artists fascinated by the “electron beam that moved across the screen from left to right and top to bottom” to manifest an image.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

If the universal acclaim of “Oklahoma!” will force Hart to confront his professional irrelevance, maybe Elizabeth’s beaming presence — and the promise of them consummating their feelings — will be sufficient compensation.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

To illustrate, he wraps his arms around me in a “grandfather to grandchild-like” way, and gently squeezes, beaming.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

At the centre of the galaxy is a hungry supermassive black hole, which swallows up lots of material around it and uses the extra energy to spit out intense light beams.

Read more on Space Scoop

Related Words

• girder 
• joist 
• piling 
• pillar 
• plank 
• pole 
• shaft 
• sill 
• timber