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live steam

American

[lahyv] / laɪv /

noun

steam direct from the boiler and at full pressure, ready for use in work.
steam that has performed no work or only part of its work.

live steam British

/ laɪv /

noun

steam supplied directly from a boiler at full pressure, before it has performed any work

"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

Etymology

Origin of live steam

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Workman Dave Kirkwood sprays live steam rocks at the harbor at Santa Barbara breakwater to clear oil smears.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2025

Huge projectors show a live steam from mission control.

From Washington Post • Feb. 18, 2021

The sizzle of criticism against William T. Tilden, II, tennis champion, which has been simmering on the hot stove league of tennis for several seasons, burst into a cloud of live steam.

From Time Magazine Archive

At the top of his form Critic DeVoto suggested a geyser ejecting a column of live steam, accompanied by deep, sometimes rather incoherent rumblings, hisses, falling rocks, lava, fuliginous fumes.

From Time Magazine Archive

The men used jets of live steam to thaw dirt and prevent newly poured cement from freezing.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023