beam Definition
beam (bēm)
noun
Etymology: ME < OE, a tree, piece of wood, column; akin to Ger baum, Du boom, tree
transitive verb
- to give out (shafts of light); radiate in a beam or beams
- to direct or aim (a radio signal, program, etc.)
- to construct (a ceiling) so that the beams are exposed
intransitive verb
- to shine brightly; be radiant
- 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
- not following the direction of a guiding beam, as an airplane
- ☆ Informal
- going in the wrong direction
- wrong; incorrect
on the beam
- in a direction at right angles to the keel of a ship; abeam
- following the direction of a guiding beam, as an airplane
- ☆ Informal
- going in the right direction
- working or functioning well; alert, keen, quick, etc.
beam Synonyms
beam
n.
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. 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. Radio waves intended as a guide
direction finder, unidirectional radio signal, radar; see beacon.
off the beam*
on the beam*
beam Synonyms
beam
v.
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
- ‹ beaky
- ‹ beaker
- ‹ beaked whale
- ‹ beaked
- ‹ beak
- ‹ beagle
- ‹ beady
- ‹ beadwork
- ‹ beadswoman
- ‹ beadsman
- beam-ends ›
- beam splitter ›
- beamed ›
- beaming ›
- beamish ›
- beamsplitter ›
- beamy ›
- bean ›
- bean ball ›
- bean beetle ›

