beam
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.
Building Trades. a horizontal bearing member, as a joist or lintel.
Engineering. a rigid member or structure supported at each end, subject to bending stresses from a direction perpendicular to its length.
Nautical.
a horizontal structural member, usually transverse, for supporting the decks and flats of a vessel.
the extreme width of a vessel.
the shank of an anchor.
Aeronautics. the direction perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of an aircraft and outward from the side.
the widest part.
Slang. the measure across both hips or buttocks: broad in the beam.
Machinery.
(in a loom) a roller or cylinder on which the warp is wound before weaving.
a similar cylinder on which cloth is wound as it is woven.
the crossbar of a balance, from the ends of which the scales or pans are suspended.
a ray of light: The sun shed its beams upon the vineyard.
a group of nearly parallel rays.
Radio, Aeronautics. a signal transmitted along a narrow course, used to guide pilots through darkness, bad weather, etc.
Electronics. a narrow stream of electrons, as that emitted from the electron gun of a cathode ray tube.
the angle at which a microphone or loudspeaker functions best.
the cone-shaped range of effective use of a microphone or loudspeaker.
Citizens Band Radio Slang. beam antenna.
a gleam; suggestion: a beam of hope.
a radiant smile.
the principal stem of the antler of a deer.
to emit in or as in beams or rays.
Radio. to transmit (a signal) in a particular direction.
Radio and Television. to direct (a program, commercial message, etc.) to a predetermined audience.
to emit beams, as of light.
to smile radiantly or happily.
Idioms about beam
beam in, Citizens Band Radio Slang. to be received under optimum conditions; be heard loud and clear: They told me I was really beaming in.
fly the beam, Radio, Aeronautics. (of an aircraft) to be guided by a beam.
off the beam,
not on the course indicated by a radio beam.
Informal. wrong; incorrect: The pollsters were off the beam again for the last presidential election.
on the beam,
on the course indicated by a radio beam, as an airplane.
Nautical. at right angles to the keel.
Informal. proceeding well; correct; exact: Their research is right on the beam and the results should be very valuable.
Origin of beam
1synonym study For beam
Other words from beam
- beamless, adjective
- beamlike, adjective
- outbeam, verb (used with object)
- un·beamed, adjective
- un·der·beam, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use beam in a sentence
Clad in a blue, striped button-down, a silver watch adorning his left wrist, Huckabee beams on the cover.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner! | Olivia Nuzzi | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTResidents had placed makeshift roadblocks, including wooden beams and furniture, on roads leading to the protest.
A New Intifada? Israel’s Arab Citizen Uprising Spreads | Creede Newton | November 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe result looks like curtains of red and green beams in the night sky.
The Sun Is Pummeling Earth. Now What? Solar Storms for Dummies | Lizzie Crocker | September 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI…saw…18th-century hand-hewn and hand-planed joists and beams with extremely wide floorboards right above them….
Is This the Tavern Where Washington Drank After Beating the British? | William Bryk | November 12, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThere were also beams of cypress and several other types of wood.
He turned his eyes upon her; but no sympathy was in their beams; no belief in the semblance of her tears.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterCharred beams and blackened walls showed stark and gaunt in the glow of a smoldering mass of wreckage.
The Red Year | Louis TracyThe case was fixed over the engine-shaft on two beams of timber from wall to wall.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickThe pole-case was fixed to strong beams immediately over the pump-shaft.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickGun smoke lay in placidly moving layers of gray before the light beams.
British Dictionary definitions for beam
/ (biːm) /
a long thick straight-sided piece of wood, metal, concrete, etc, esp one used as a horizontal structural member
any rigid member or structure that is loaded transversely
the breadth of a ship or boat taken at its widest part, usually amidships
a ray or column of light, as from a beacon
a broad smile
one of the two cylindrical rollers on a loom, one of which holds the warp threads before weaving, the other the finished work
the main stem of a deer's antler from which the smaller branches grow
the central shaft of a plough to which all the main parts are attached
a narrow unidirectional flow of electromagnetic radiation or particles: a beam of light; an electron beam
the horizontal centrally pivoted bar in a balance
informal the width of the hips (esp in the phrase broad in the beam)
a beam in one's eye a fault or grave error greater in oneself than in another person
off beam or off the beam
not following a radio beam to maintain a course
informal wrong, mistaken, or irrelevant
on the beam
following a radio beam to maintain a course
nautical opposite the beam of a vessel; abeam
informal correct, relevant, or appropriate
to send out or radiate (rays of light)
(tr) to divert or aim (a radio signal or broadcast, light, etc) in a certain direction: to beam a programme to Tokyo
to pass (data, esp business card details, etc) from one hand-held computer to another by means of infrared beams
(intr) to smile broadly with pleasure or satisfaction
Origin of beam
1Derived forms of beam
- beamed, adjective
- beaming, adjective, noun
- beamless, adjective
- beamlike, adjective
- beamy, adjective
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 beam
see broad in the beam; off the beam.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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