foam

[fohm]

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noun

a collection of minute bubbles formed on the surface of a liquid by agitation, fermentation, etc.: foam on a glass of beer.

the froth of perspiration, caused by great exertion, formed on the skin of a horse or other animal.

froth formed from saliva in the mouth, as in epilepsy and rabies.

a thick frothy substance, as shaving cream.

(in firefighting)

a chemically produced substance that smothers the flames on a burning liquid by forming a layer of minute, stable, heat-resistant bubbles on the liquid's surface.
the layer of bubbles so formed.

a dispersion of gas bubbles in a solid, as foam glass, foam rubber, polyfoam, or foamed metal.

Literary. the sea.

verb (used without object)

to form or gather foam; emit foam; froth.

verb (used with object)

to cause to foam.

to cover with foam; apply foam to: to foam a runway before an emergency landing.

to insulate with foam.

to make (plastic, metal, etc.) into a foam.

Idioms

foam at the mouth, to be extremely or uncontrollably angry.

Origin of foam

before 900; Middle English fom, Old English fām; cognate with German Feim

Related formsfoam·a·ble, adjectivefoam·er, nounfoam·ing·ly, adverbfoam·less, adjectivefoam·like, adjectivede·foam, verb (used with object)un·foamed, adjectiveun·foam·ing, adjective

Synonyms for foam

1. froth, spume, head, fizz; scum.

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

Related Words for foaming

spray, froth, cream, lather, surf, head, yeast, fluff, spume, suds, scum, gurgle, aerate, burble, effervesce, sparkle, seethe, simmer, hiss, ferment

Examples from the Web for foaming

Contemporary Examples of foaming

Thrown into a foaming red rage by the ending of The Sopranos or Lost or BSG or Mass Effect?
How ‘Battlestar Galactica,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ and FanFiction Conquered Pop Culture
Arthur Chu
May 6, 2014
The haunting video shows apparent victims, including children, convulsing and foaming at the mouth.
Six Chilling Moments from Charlie Rose’s Assad Interview (VIDEO)
Ben Teitelbaum
September 9, 2013
What if Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the foaming right-wing pundit crowd aren't the face of modern conservatism?
Patriot Games
Lee Siegel
October 16, 2009
When the butter is foaming, lay in a batch of floured codfish chunks in one layer, not crowded.
Salt Cod, Scampi, Filet of Grouper
The Daily Beast
December 23, 2008

Historical Examples of foaming

A moment more and we are in the midst of the eddying, rushing, foaming rapids.
The Roof of France
Matilda Betham-Edwards
Nothing was before him, save the foaming, dashing, measureless ocean.
The Three Golden Apples
Nathaniel Hawthorne
There dashes a horseman with foaming steed and tightly-gathered rein!
Farm Ballads
Will Carleton
His father, foaming with rage, ordered his servants to seize him.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
He did not dare to show anger in his replies, yet he was foaming.
The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency, Complete
Duc de Saint-Simon

British Dictionary definitions for foaming

foam

noun

a mass of small bubbles of gas formed on the surface of a liquid, such as the froth produced by agitating a solution of soap or detergent in water

frothy saliva sometimes formed in and expelled from the mouth, as in rabies

the frothy sweat of a horse or similar animal

any of a number of light cellular solids made by creating bubbles of gas in the liquid material and solidifying it: used as insulators and in packaging
(as modifier)foam rubber; foam plastic

a colloid consisting of a gas suspended in a liquid

a mixture of chemicals sprayed from a fire extinguisher onto a burning substance to create a stable layer of bubbles which smothers the flames

a poetic word for the sea

verb

to produce or cause to produce foam; froth

(intr) to be very angry (esp in the phrase foam at the mouth)

Derived Formsfoamless, adjectivefoamlike, adjective

Word Origin for foam

Old English fām; related to Old High German feim, Latin spūma, Sanskrit phena

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 foaming

foam

Old English fam "foam, saliva froth," from West Germanic *faimo- (cf. Old High German veim, German Feim), from PIE *(s)poi-mo-, a root with connotations of "foam, froth" (cf. Sanskrit phenah; Latin pumex "pumice," spuma "foam;" Old Church Slavonic pena "foam;" Lithuanian spaine "a streak of foam"). The rubber or plastic variety so called from 1937.

foam

Old English famgian "to foam," from the source of foam (n.). Related: Foamed; foaming.

foaming in Science

foam

[fōm]

Small, frothy bubbles formed in or on the surface of a liquid, as from fermentation or shaking.

A colloid in which particles of a gas are dispersed throughout a liquid. Compare aerosol emulsion.