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• bream
  bream

  noun

  any of various freshwater fishes of the genus Abramis, as A. brama, of Europe, with a compressed, deep body and silvery scales.
• Bream
  Bream

  noun

  Julian (Alexander), 1933–2020, English guitarist and lutenist.

bream

¹ American  

[brim, breem] / brɪm, brim /

noun

• bream,
  plural
• breams
  plural

1. any of various freshwater fishes of the genus Abramis, as A. brama, of Europe, with a compressed, deep body and silvery scales.

2. any of various related and similar fishes.

3. any of several porgies, as the sea bream, Archosargus rhomboidalis.

4. any of several freshwater sunfishes of the genus Lepomis.

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bream ² American  

[breem] / brim /

verb (used with object)

Nautical.

1. to clean (a ship's bottom) by applying burning furze, reeds, etc., to soften the pitch and loosen adherent matter.

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Bream ³ American  

[breem] / brim /

noun

1. Julian (Alexander), 1933–2020, English guitarist and lutenist.

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bream ¹ British  

/ brɪm, briːm, brɪm /

noun

1. any of several Eurasian freshwater cyprinid fishes of the genus Abramis , esp A. brama , having a deep compressed body covered with silvery scales

2. a similar cyprinid, Blicca bjoerkna

3. short for sea bream

4. any of various marine fishes

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Bream ² British  

/ briːm /

noun

1. Julian ( Alexander ). born 1933, English guitarist and lutenist

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bream ³ British  

/ briːm /

verb

1. nautical (formerly) to clean debris from (the bottom of a vessel) by heating to soften the pitch

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bream
  plural
• breams
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of bream¹

1350–1400; Middle English breme < Anglo-French; Old French bresme, braisme < Old Low Franconian *brahsima; compare Old High German brahsema, Dutch brasem

Origin of bream²

1620–30; < Middle Dutch brem ( e ) furze

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bream Bream breams

He then held up a large sea bream as a symbol of good luck and celebration.

From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025

The sea bass and bream are always tasty.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

The main course, a whole fried sea bream, served with a ginger fish sauce caramel, peanuts, herbs, lemon, and wild pepper leaves to delicately wrap each fried morsel, truly blew me away.

From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2025

Because all the conventional problems of filmmaking — like flubbed lines and imperfect framing — exist alongside the possibility of dropping a perfectly cooked sea bream, a dish was waiting if another take was needed.

From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2024

The boatman plied his homemade nets not far from shore and brought in fat bream and tiger fish.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Here is some of what that version involves, from an interview two weeks ago by Shannon Bream of “Fox News Sunday” with Megan Romer, national co-chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

On “Fox News Sunday,” anchor Shannon Bream allocated a mere four seconds to the entire event, treating it as a footnote before moving on to interview a Democratic senator.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

The new series will follow Brydon's character Bill Bream who is forced to rent out his spare rooms following his divorce.

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026

On Friday, Alito spoke to Fox News’ Shannon Bream and blamed the situation on his wife.

From Slate ● May 17, 2024

“Very well,” said Captain Bream, pulling out an immense gold chronometer—the gift, in days gone by, of a band of highly grateful and appreciative passengers.

From The Young Trawler by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

After a minute marked by tense silence, two breams emerged from the hole.

From National Geographic ● Mar. 16, 2018

Since arriving in the Solomon Islands, we have found biofluorescence in lineages in which it never has been reported before, including breams and flatheads.

From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2012

On the platters were quarters of red beef, breams swimming in grease, and sunbirds with their plumage on.

From Mary Magdalen by Edgar Saltus

The breams are so careful of their charge that you may stand close by in the water and examine them at your leisure.

From A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry David Thoreau

Immediately on coming to anchor we began to fish, and got abundance of that kind which the Portuguese call Pergosses, the French saders, and our men salt-water breams.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07 by Robert Kerr

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