Bead meaning

bēd
beaded beading beads
See word origin
Frequency:
A line of continuously applied ductile material, such as solder or caulking compound.
noun
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The definition of bead is a small piece of plastic, glass or wood, often round in shape, with a hole in the center for threading, which is used for making objects such as jewelry.

An example of a bead is the colored round plastic ball used to make a necklace.

noun
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Any small, round object, as the sight at the muzzle end of a gun barrel.
noun
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Bead is defined as a drop or bubble of something.

An example of a bead is a small drop of sweat on a person’s forehead.

noun
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A globule of fused borax or other flux used in a bead test.
noun
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A small, round object, especially:
  • A drop of moisture.
    Beads of sweat.
  • A bubble of gas in a liquid.
  • A small metal knob on the muzzle of a firearm, such as a rifle, used for sighting.
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A strip of material, usually wood, with one molded edge placed flush against the inner part of a door or window frame.
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A projecting rim or lip, as on a pneumatic tire.
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To furnish with or collect into beads.
verb
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A small, usually round piece of glass, wood, metal, etc., pierced for stringing.
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noun
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A string of beads; necklace.
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A drop or bubble.

Beads of sweat.

noun
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A globule of metal, as gold or silver, obtained by refining in a cupel.
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The liplike region around a pneumatic tire that seals to the rim.
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A beadlike mass usually formed inside the loop of a platinum wire by the action of a flux, such as borax, upon the oxide or salt of certain metals: used in identifying metals in their compounds, since the metal determines the color of the bead.
noun
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To decorate or string with beads or beading.
verb
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To string like beads.
verb
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To form a bead or beads.
verb
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(1) A small programming subroutine. A sequence of beads that are strung together is called a "thread."
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(archaic) Prayer, later especially with a rosary. [from 9th c.]
noun
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Each in a string of small balls making up the rosary or paternoster. [from 14th c.]
noun
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A small round object.
  • A small round object with a hole to allow it to be threaded on a cord or wire. [from 15th c.].
  • A small round solid object.
  • A small drop of water or other liquid. [from 16th c.].
    Beads of sweat.
  • A bubble, in spirits.
  • A small round ball at the end of a barrel of a gun used for aiming.
    She drew a bead on the target and fired.
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  • A rigid edge of a tire that mounts it on a wheel; tire bead. [from 20th c.].
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A knowledge sufficient to direct one's activities to a purpose.

We now have a bead on the main technical issues for the project.

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(chemistry, dated) A glassy drop of molten flux, as borax or microcosmic salt, used as a solvent and color test for several mineral earths and oxides, as of iron, manganese, etc., before the blowpipe.

The borax bead; the iron bead, etc.

noun
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Front sight of a gun.
noun
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(intransitive) To form into a bead.

The raindrops beaded on the car's waxed finish.

verb
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To apply beads to.

She spent the morning beading the gown.

verb
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To form into a bead.

He beaded some solder for the ends of the wire.

verb
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To bead is defined as to put rounded objects with a hole in the center onto a string, or onto an object of some type.

An example of bead is to thread various shaped pieces of rounded objects onto a string to make a bracelet.

An example of bead is to glue rounded pieces of material onto a lampshade for the purpose of decoration.

verb
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draw
  • To take careful aim at.
idiom
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draw a bead on
  • To take careful aim at.
idiom
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say one's beads
  • To pray with a rosary.
idiom
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Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

say one's beads

Origin of bead

  • 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

Bead Sentence Examples

  • Add a bead of sealant into the gap and let it dry completely.

  • If the bead is coloured we may have present: cobalt, blue to violet; copper, green, blue on cooling; in the reducing flame, red when cold; chromium, green, unaltered in the reducing flame; iron, brownish-red, light-yellow or colourless on cooling; in the reducing flame, red while hot, yellow on cooling, greenish when cold; nickel, reddish to brownish-red, yellow to reddish-yellow or colourless on cooling, unaltered in the reducing flame; bismuth, yellowish-brown, light-yellow or colourless on cooling; in the reducing flame, almost colourless, blackish-grey when cold; silver, light yellowish to opal, somewhat opaque when cold; whitish-grey in the reducing flame; manganese, amethyst red, colourless in the reducing flame.

  • Ashley's bead was lighter red in color, its surface glazed to give it a subtle reflecting quality.

  • This time she put on the glass bead first and the two wooden ones next.

  • 26, called the " barleycorn," and 27, called the " bead."

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Words near bead in the Dictionary