Showing results for "stream"

• a variation of livestream.

stream

American  

[streem] / strim /

noun

• streams
  plural

1. a body of water flowing in a channel or watercourse, as a river, rivulet, or brook.

   Synonyms:

   runnel, streamlet, run, rill

2. a steady current in water, as in a river or the ocean.

   to row against the stream;

   the Gulf Stream.

   Synonyms:

   tide, flow

3. any flow of water or other liquid or fluid.

   streams of blood.

4. a current or flow of air, gas, or the like.

5. a beam or trail of light.

   A stream of moonlight fell from the clouds.

6. a continuous flow or succession of anything.

   a stream of words.

   Synonyms:

   rush, torrent

7. prevailing direction; drift.

   the stream of opinion.

8. Digital Technology.

   1. a flow of data, as an audio broadcast, a movie, or live video, transmitted smoothly and continuously from a source to a computer, mobile device, etc.

   2. livestream.

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verb (used without object)

• streams,
  present (3rd person singular)
• streamed,
  past participle,  past
• streaming
  present participle

1. to flow, pass, or issue in a stream, as water, tears, or blood.

   Synonyms:

   pour

2. to send forth or throw off a stream; run or flow (often followed bywith ).

   eyes streaming with tears.

3. to extend in a beam or in rays, as light.

   Sunlight streamed in through the windows.

4. to move or proceed continuously like a flowing stream, as a procession.

5. to wave or float outward, as a flag in the wind.

6. to hang in a loose, flowing manner, as long hair.

verb (used with object)

• streams,
  present (3rd person singular)
• streamed,
  past participle,  past
• streaming
  present participle

1. to send forth or discharge in a stream.

   The wound streamed blood.

2. to cause to stream or float outward, as a flag.

3. Digital Technology.

   1. to transfer or transmit (data) in such a way that it is processed in a steady and continuous stream.

      Internet service providers are talking about setting limits on the amount of data that can be streamed into your home.

   2. livestream.

4. Nautical. to place (an object) in the water at the end of a line attached to a vessel.

idioms

1. on stream, in or into operation.

   The factory will be on stream in a month.

stream British  

/ striːm /

noun

1. a small river; brook

2. any steady flow of water or other fluid

3. something that resembles a stream in moving continuously in a line or particular direction

4. a rapid or unbroken flow of speech, etc

   a stream of abuse

5. a flow of money into a business

   a revenue stream

6. any of several parallel classes of schoolchildren, or divisions of children within a class, grouped together because of similar ability

7. to conform to the accepted standards

8. (of an industrial plant, manufacturing process, etc) shut down or not in production

9. 1. (of an industrial plant, manufacturing process, etc) in or about to go into operation or production

   2. available or in existence

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verb

1. to emit or be emitted in a continuous flow

   his nose streamed blood

2. (intr) to move in unbroken succession, as a crowd of people, vehicles, etc

3. (intr) to float freely or with a waving motion

   bunting streamed in the wind

4. (tr) to unfurl (a flag, etc)

5. (intr) to move causing a trail of light, condensed gas, etc, as a jet aircraft

6. mining to wash (earth, gravel, etc) in running water in prospecting (for gold, etc), to expose the particles of ore or metal

7. education to group or divide (children) in streams

stream Scientific  

/ strēm /

1. A flow of water in a channel or bed, as a brook, rivulet, or small river.

2. A flow of a watery substance, such as blood in blood vessels or cytoplasm in fungal hyphae, in an organism or in part of an organism.

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stream More Idioms  

1. see change horses in midstream; swim against the current (stream).

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Usage

What is a basic definition of stream? A stream is a small river, a continuous flow, or a flow of data over the internet. Stream has several other senses as a noun and a verb. Like a river, a stream is a body of water that flows from one source and ends by emptying into a larger body of water or a water basin. When it comes to rivers and streams, there is no official measurement used to separate them. Generally, a stream is considered to be smaller than a river, but even official organizations concerned with geography sometimes use both terms to refer to the same body of water.

• Real-life examples: The United States has millions of miles of streams. Streams play an important part in nature because they deliver water or offer shelter to plants, fish, and other aquatic animals. You might have a stream near you that is home to fish or other aquatic life.
• Used in a sentence: We saw a small fish jump out of the stream. 

The word stream is used more generally to mean a flow of anything, not just water. One sense of the noun streamer is something that streams, such as a flame.

• Real-life examples: A stream of tears might flow out of your eyes if you hit your thumb with a hammer. You might hear about a stream of wind during a weather forecast. Department stores often get a stream of customers during the holidays.
• Used in a sentence: Luckily, the doctor quickly stopped the stream of blood coming from my leg.

In this same sense, stream is used as a verb to mean to flow like water, literally or figuratively.

• Used in a sentence: Milk streamed from the vats into the chocolate-making machinery. 

Stream also refers to a flow of data that is transmitted over the internet to your computer or other electronic device. A stream usually takes the form of music, movies, video games, or a live video broadcast.

• Real-life examples: Netflix, YouTube, and Twitch allow people to watch streams of videos, while Spotify and Amazon Music offer music streams.
• Used in a sentence: We watched a stream of the movie on my laptop. 

In this same sense, stream is used as a verb to mean to transmit or receive a stream of data over the internet. Here, a streamer is the person who sends or receives data over the internet.

• Used in a sentence: I told her not to illegally stream music but she wouldn’t listen.

Synonym Usage

Stream, current refer to a steady flow. In this use they are interchangeable. In the sense of running water, however, a stream is a flow that may be as small as a brook or as large as a river: A number of streams have their sources in mountains. Current refers to the most rapidly moving part of the stream: This river has a swift current.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• streamlet
  noun
• understream
  noun
• outstream
  verb (used with object)
• interstream
  adjective
• streamless
  adjective
• streamlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• streams
  plural

Participles

• streaming
  present
• streamed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• stream
  simple
• streams
  simple
• have streamed
  perfect
• has streamed
  perfect
• am streaming
  progressive
• are streaming
  progressive
• is streaming
  progressive
• have been streaming
  perfect progressive
• has been streaming
  perfect progressive

Past

• streamed
  simple
• had streamed
  perfect
• was streaming
  progressive
• were streaming
  progressive
• had been streaming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will stream
  simple
• will have streamed
  perfect
• will be streaming
  progressive
• will have been streaming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of stream

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun streem, streme, Old English strēam; cognate with German Strom, Old Norse straumr; akin to Greek rheîn “to flow”; verb derivative of the noun; see rheum

Explanation

That little rolling brook in your back yard is a stream. If it starts rising and threatens to flood, your father might let out a stream of expletives. A stream is a steady flow of something. As a verb, stream means to flow out. If water streams from a faucet, it is pouring out. After a concert people stream out of a stadium and into the parking lot. On the web, you'll hear about something connected with music and video called streaming. This means that instead of having to download it to play, it is sent through your computer to listen to or watch, sort of like the way radio and TV work.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stream streams streamed streaming

Long-lived radioactive fission products keep decaying for months or even years, releasing a weak stream of particles called antineutrinos.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

The move signaled these aren’t core items that belong in a recurring earnings stream.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

One year ago, South East Rivers Trust and environmental organisation Citizen Zoo released 42 water voles into the chalk stream.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

This constitutes a tax-free invisible “income” stream, which the government sometimes likes to call “owner’s equivalent rent.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

The dogs ran out on the ice of the stream but I fell onto it.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

North American river otters live in rivers, lakes, streams, marshes and on seacoasts, according to the conservation group River Otter Ecology Project.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

He said that Meta’s potential to generate new revenue streams through enterprise deals could help offset concerns about the company’s heavy AI spending.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

AEM remains poised to expand its revenue streams, which could drive its profitability to new highs, he adds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

In the book, most homes have parlor walls with huge video screens that broadcast streams of babbling commentary for both entertainment and manipulation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Dust and sand blew off of it in spiraling streams to reveal….

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

We live in an age remarkably good at simulating experience: Concerts and fireworks are streamed live, and an Everest summit is rendered in IMAX.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

Under a blazing sun, clad in black and clutching portraits of their slain leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian pilgrims streamed across the border into Iraq to observe the Arbaeen, the most revered event in Shia Islam.

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

It then became an entertainment powerhouse by paying up for original series that could be streamed over the internet and often binged in a single evening.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026

It's been streamed more than two billion times.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

Burning seawater streamed down its sides, and it let loose a soul-crushing bellow as it began to pick up speed.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

In animated renditions streaming on HBO Max, the Green Lantern fares much better.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Welcome to its new “AI Creator TV” channel, now available on the app’s streaming service and consisting exclusively of app-generated films and shows, along with commercials that feature “synthetic performers.”

From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2026

And then in 2017 Disney undertook its biggest ESPN-funded challenge yet, spending many billions to construct a streaming service to directly challenge Netflix—the company’s biggest strategic bet of the decade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

One could see this as yet another case of nepo-baby triumph — streaming is currently littered with the progeny of famous parents — or simply a living example of the film’s theme.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Soon thousands of panicking French soldiers were streaming to the rear.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Related Words

• current
• flood
• flow
• rush
• spate
• surge
• tide
• torrent
• tributary