beam

American  

[beem] / bim /

noun

• beams
  plural

1. any of various relatively long pieces of metal, wood, stone, etc., manufactured or shaped especially for use as rigid members or parts of structures or machines.

2. Building Trades. a horizontal bearing member, as a joist or lintel.

3. Engineering. a rigid member or structure supported at each end, subject to bending stresses from a direction perpendicular to its length.

4. Nautical.

   1. a horizontal structural member, usually transverse, for supporting the decks and flats of a vessel.

   2. the extreme width of a vessel.

   3. the shank of an anchor.

5. Aeronautics. the direction perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of an aircraft and outward from the side.

6. the widest part.

7. Slang. the measure across both hips or buttocks.

   broad in the beam.

8. Machinery.

   1. walking beam.

   2. (in a loom) a roller or cylinder on which the warp is wound before weaving.

   3. a similar cylinder on which cloth is wound as it is woven.

9. the crossbar of a balance, from the ends of which the scales or pans are suspended.

10. a ray of light.

    The sun shed its beams upon the vineyard.

11. a group of nearly parallel rays.

12. Radio, Aeronautics. a signal transmitted along a narrow course, used to guide pilots through darkness, bad weather, etc.

13. Electronics. a narrow stream of electrons, as that emitted from the electron gun of a cathode ray tube.

14. the angle at which a microphone or loudspeaker functions best.

15. the cone-shaped range of effective use of a microphone or loudspeaker.

16. Citizens Band Radio Slang. beam antenna.

17. a gleam; suggestion.

    a beam of hope.

18. a radiant smile.

19. the principal stem of the antler of a deer.

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verb (used with object)

• beams,
  present (3rd person singular)
• beamed,
  past participle,  past
• beaming
  present participle

1. to emit in or as in beams or rays.

2. Radio. to transmit (a signal) in a particular direction.

3. Radio and Television. to direct (a program, commercial message, etc.) to a predetermined audience.

verb (used without object)

• beams,
  present (3rd person singular)
• beamed,
  past participle,  past
• beaming
  present participle

1. to emit beams, as of light.

2. to smile radiantly or happily.

idioms

1. fly the beam, (of an aircraft) to be guided by a beam.

2. off the beam,

   1. not on the course indicated by a radio beam.

   2. Informal. wrong; incorrect.

      The pollsters were off the beam again for the last presidential election.

3. beam in, to be received under optimum conditions; be heard loud and clear.

   They told me I was really beaming in.

4. on the beam,

   1. on the course indicated by a radio beam, as an airplane.

   2. Nautical. at right angles to the keel.

   3. Informal. proceeding well; correct; exact.

      Their research is right on the beam and the results should be very valuable.

beam British  

/ biːm /

noun

1. a long thick straight-sided piece of wood, metal, concrete, etc, esp one used as a horizontal structural member

2. any rigid member or structure that is loaded transversely

3. the breadth of a ship or boat taken at its widest part, usually amidships

4. a ray or column of light, as from a beacon

5. a broad smile

6. one of the two cylindrical rollers on a loom, one of which holds the warp threads before weaving, the other the finished work

7. the main stem of a deer's antler from which the smaller branches grow

8. the central shaft of a plough to which all the main parts are attached

9. a narrow unidirectional flow of electromagnetic radiation or particles

   a beam of light

   an electron beam

10. the horizontal centrally pivoted bar in a balance

11. informal the width of the hips (esp in the phrase broad in the beam )

12. a fault or grave error greater in oneself than in another person

13. 1. not following a radio beam to maintain a course

    2. informal wrong, mistaken, or irrelevant

14. 1. following a radio beam to maintain a course

    2. nautical opposite the beam of a vessel; abeam

    3. informal correct, relevant, or appropriate

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verb

1. to send out or radiate (rays of light)

2. (tr) to divert or aim (a radio signal or broadcast, light, etc) in a certain direction

   to beam a programme to Tokyo

3. to pass (data, esp business card details, etc) from one hand-held computer to another by means of infrared beams

4. (intr) to smile broadly with pleasure or satisfaction

beam More Idioms  

1. see broad in the beam; off the beam.

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Synonym Usage

See gleam. See shine ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• underbeam
  noun
• outbeam
  verb (used with object)
• beamed
  adjective
• beaming
  adjective
• beamless
  adjective
• beamlike
  adjective
• beamy
  adjective
• unbeamed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• beams
  plural

Participles

• beaming
  present
• beamed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• beam
  simple
• beams
  simple
• have beamed
  perfect
• has beamed
  perfect
• am beaming
  progressive
• are beaming
  progressive
• is beaming
  progressive
• have been beaming
  perfect progressive
• has been beaming
  perfect progressive

Past

• beamed
  simple
• had beamed
  perfect
• was beaming
  progressive
• were beaming
  progressive
• had been beaming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will beam
  simple
• will have beamed
  perfect
• will be beaming
  progressive
• will have been beaming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of beam

First recorded before 900; Middle English beem, Old English bēam “tree, post, ray of light”; cognate with Old Frisian bām, Old Saxon bōm, Dutch boom, Old High German boum ( German Baum ), Gothic bagms, Old Norse bathmr tree; the identity of the consonant which has assimilated itself to the following m is unclear, as is the original root; perhaps unattested Germanic bagmaz, from unattested bargmaz, from unattested Indo-European bhorǵh-mos “growth”; see barrow ²

Explanation

A beam is a long board that's used to hold up a roof or doorway. The beams in your kitchen ceiling help support the upstairs floor just above it. In construction, beams are made of wood or metal and are used to frame a building and provide structure. In gymnastics, a beam is used for balancing and doing tricks on. If someone comments that you're getting "broad in the beam," they're disparaging the width of your body, especially your hips. In Old English, a beam first meant a tree, and later a rafter or a ship's timber.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beam beams beamed beaming

Teenage athlete Dennis Castillo spent 28 excruciating hours trapped under the rubble in quake-hit Venezuela, with a beam crushing her left leg as she waited to be rescued.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

Stott wants to use the technology his firm is developing to store data in space to beam the distinctly Scottish sound of the Laidlaw Memorial Pipe Band onto the Moon.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Scientists can rotate that electron beam by adjusting the polarization of the two phase-coherent optical fields.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

At 17, Amankwaah is the youngest gymnast in Team England's squad and she is set to compete in the uneven bars, beam and floor beginning on Friday.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

His eyes were wide and terrified as the crazily rolling beam of light struck his face; the handcuffs slid back and forth on his wrists as he reached back for his older brother.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Inside Billy’s private movie theater, the projector beams down on the back of Anderson’s head like that infamous Nicole Kidman AMC promo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

By using twisted laser beams as probes, scientists may be able to identify molecular handedness more easily and accurately.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

The beams initially cracked in March but were repaired quickly, the spokesman said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Steel beams holding up the skyscraper are exposed in various corners of residential units - an homage to what made the original building so innovative.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

Far, far off, I see high beams twinkling in the darkness.

From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

"My customers love it and then some of them, for example, they come in Spode, they can't move, in front of the entrance, like 'oh my god i'm in Stoke, i'm in Spode'," she beamed.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Mechanic remembered a party sometime pre-presidency for Witkoff’s wife, Lauren, where Trump was beamed in via video with a birthday greeting, but he couldn’t place when that was.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026

"It's pretty, isn't it?" beamed the minister, Robert Kalinak, one of Prime Minister Robert Fico's closest allies, as he opened the building in the capital Bratislava to the public on Thursday.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

On his last day at camp, Elijah, dressed in a Star Wars T-shirt, beamed with confidence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

“I made it for you,” she said, and beamed.

From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm

“I will probably be beaming from ear to ear as we set off,” Cousins said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

The company also will continue developing a wireless power transfer system that uses fiber lasers and a space based heat rejection system to improve the durability of power beaming technology.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

Woodrow told the BBC that the "evening was perfect and incredible" with everyone involved "beaming and glowing", while "the whole place had such a positive atmosphere".

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Team captain Cristiano Ronaldo stood front and center, looking serious amid many beaming teammates and holding up a red No. 21 jersey in Jota’s honor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026

“A characteristic, but not exactly complimentary, congratulation,” returned Laurie, still in an abject attitude, but beaming with satisfaction.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Related Words

• girder
• joist
• piling
• pillar
• plank
• pole
• shaft
• sill
• timber