Bead Definition
bēd
beaded, beading, beads
noun
beads
A small, often round piece of material, such as glass, plastic, or wood, that is pierced for stringing or threading.
American Heritage
A small, usually round piece of glass, wood, metal, etc., pierced for stringing.
Webster's New World
A necklace made of such pieces.
American Heritage
Webster's New World
A rosary.
American Heritage
verb
beaded, beading, beads
To furnish with or collect into beads.
American Heritage
To decorate or string with beads or beading.
Webster's New World
To form a bead or beads.
Webster's New World
To string like beads.
Webster's New World
(intransitive) To form into a bead.
The raindrops beaded on the car's waxed finish.
Wiktionary
idiom
draw
- To take careful aim at.
American Heritage
draw a bead on
- to take careful aim at
Webster's New World
say one's beads
- to pray with a rosary
Webster's New World
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Bead
- draw
- draw a bead on
- say one's beads
Origin of Bead
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Middle English bede rosary bead, prayer from Old English bed, bedu, gebed prayer gwhedh- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
-
From Old English ġebed, from Proto-Germanic. Cognate with Dutch bede, German Gebet.
From Wiktionary
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