off the beam

Idioms  

1. Off course, on the wrong track, as in He's way off the beam with that argument. This colloquial term and its antonym, on the beam, meaning “on the right track,” allude to directing aircraft by means of radio beams. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

off the beam

After falling off the beam during the event final Monday at Bercy Arena, Biles settled for fifth place on balance beam, ending her streak of consecutive Olympic medals in the event.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2024

Simone Biles fell off the beam to miss out on a medal for the first time at the Paris Olympics as Alice d'Amato took gold.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2024

So, like Super-K, Hyper-K will sit off the beam axis by an angle of 2.5°.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 28, 2022

A violinist who plays on a high beam, sometimes balancing on one leg, became disoriented after jumping off the beam and hit her head hard against it.

From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2022

He put his pencil down, shut off the beam of light, removed the adhesive patch from her cheek.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick