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beam Definition

beam (bēm)

noun

Etymology: ME < OE, a tree, piece of wood, column; akin to Ger baum, Du boom, tree

transitive verb

  1. to give out (shafts of light); radiate in a beam or beams
  2. to direct or aim (a radio signal, program, etc.)
  3. to construct (a ceiling) so that the beams are exposed

intransitive verb

  1. to shine brightly; be radiant
  2. to smile warmly

beam Idioms

beam in one's own eye

Etymology: after Matt. 7:3, Luke 6:41

a major moral flaw in oneself which one ignores while criticizing minor faults in others

off the beam

  1. not following the direction of a guiding beam, as an airplane
  2. Informal
    1. going in the wrong direction
    2. wrong; incorrect

on the beam

  1. in a direction at right angles to the keel of a ship; abeam
  2. following the direction of a guiding beam, as an airplane
  3. Informal
    1. going in the right direction
    2. working or functioning well; alert, keen, quick, etc.

beam Synonyms

beam

n.

  1. A relatively long, stout bar

    timber, brace, rafter, stringer, stud, two-by-four, scantling, strut, bolster, axle, reach, girder, sleeper, stay, crosspiece, prop, support, trestle, spar, transverse, pole, lath, furring strip, pile, balk, crossbar, T-beam, I-beam, steel beam, boom, post, kingpost, column, pillar, piling, stanchion, flitches, hammer beam, bail, joist, lintel, sill, jamb, cantilever, shaft, scaffolding, board, plank.

  2. A ray or rays

    ray, emission, shaft, bar, sparkle, twinkle, flicker, streak, laser, pencil, glitter, glare, stream of light, shimmer, glint, glow, chink, gleam, glimmer, finger, beacon.

  3. Radio waves intended as a guide

    direction finder, unidirectional radio signal, radar; see beacon.

off the beam*

in error, misdirected, incorrect, inaccurate; see mistaken 1, wrong 2.

on the beam*

on course, functioning well, alert, keen; see accurate 1, intelligent 1.

beam Synonyms

beam

v.

  1. To emit

    transmit, broadcast, give out, direct; see broadcast 2, radiate 1, send 4.

  2. To shine

    radiate, glitter, gleam; see radiate 2, shine 1.

  3. To smile

    grin, laugh, smile radiantly, glow; see smile.

beam Usage Examples

Object

  • ceiling: Copper Cottage - Hayle - A turn of the century cottage with beamed ceiling & open fire in the lounge.
  • oak: The oak beamed lounge with log fires in winter provides room to relax.

Converse of object

  • expose: Accommodation The cottage is typically French with tiled floors and exposed beams.
  • diffract: The exact positions of the atoms within the surface repeat unit ( the 'unit mesh ' ) govern the intensities of the diffracted beams.
  • collimate: Filters must be situated in and not vignette the collimated beam [ 3.10, Sa ] .

Adjective modifier

  • exposed: The interior retains many of the period features such as exposed beams and timbers.
  • wooden: Most of the time we sit out hard with the front foot close to the wooden beam dividing the boat.
  • infrared: Students can easily share information during team projects by linking their PDAs through the infrared beam.
  • starboard: I immediately ascended the conning tower and by this time the object was on our starboard beam.

Modifies a noun

  • splitter: A beam splitter directs the returned light to a photodiode detector for signal processing.
  • epitaxy: The thin films are deposited by either sputtering or molecular beam epitaxy.
  • lithography: The experimental samples were produced by electron beam lithography and consisted of either a 6 X 3 array or a 6 element row.
  • radiotherapy: You may have the more common external beam radiotherapy.
  • trawl: Graham Pickett ( MAFF ) reports the incidental capture of a specimen in Southampton water in a routine beam trawl in late September 1992.

Noun used with modifier

  • laser: Laser beams A small red laser beam allows the wearer to target the camera upon the area of work.
  • electron: The process starts with a laser beam or electron beam writing a pattern on fused silica or silicon.
  • ion: Electron transparent cross-sections through the deformed region were prepared using a focused ion beam.
  • rood: The lower section once opened, to allow an updraft to the rood beam.
  • proton: The proton beam is scanned in X and Y, and the X-rays of interest have software windows set around them.
  • buffer: The end view shows the slightly simplified version of the buffer beam.

Browse dictionary entries near beam

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