Beam definition

bēm
beamed beaming beams
See word origin
Frequency:
To smile expansively.
verb
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To direct or aim (a radio signal, program, etc.)
verb
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To radiate light; shine.
verb
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To emit or transmit.

Beam a message via satellite.

verb
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The definition of beam is a piece of wood, metal or steel which is typically long and squared that can be used as a building material.

An example of a beam is a 24 inch by 24 inch square piece of wood used in the framing of a house.

noun
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Beam is defined as a column of light, or a condensed flowing of particles, waves, or signals.

An example of a beam is the illumination produced from a lighthouse.

An example of a beam is the electromagnetic waves generated to broadcast a radio station to the public.

noun
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Beam means to release a column of light, or to release a condensed flowing of particles, waves, or signals of any type.

An example of beam is to turn on a car’s headlights.

An example of beam is to operate an x-ray machine whose electromagnetic waves allow it to see through solid objects.

An example of beam is to send out radio signals from a satellite in order for people to enjoy a variety of music from their vehicle and/or TV.

verb
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(sports) A balance beam.
noun
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Beam is to grin from ear to ear with happiness.

An example of beam is to smile big when graduating from college.

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One of the main stems of a deer's antlers.
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A radio beam.
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A transverse structural member of a ship's frame, used to support a deck and to brace the sides against stress.
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The breadth of a ship at the widest point.
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The side of a ship.

Sighted land off the starboard beam.

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The bar of a balance from which weighing pans are suspended.
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A ray or shaft of light.
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A concentrated stream of particles or a similar propagation of waves.

A beam of protons; a beam of light.

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A stream of radio or radar signals sent continuously in one direction from a landing field, harbor, etc. as a guide for incoming aircraft or ships.
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A long, thick piece of wood, metal, or stone, used in building.
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Such a piece used as a horizontal support for a roof, ceiling, etc.
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Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
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One of the principal horizontal timbers of a building; one of the transverse members of a ship's frame on which the decks are laid - supported at the sides by knees in wooden ships and by stringers in steel ones.
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(nautical) The maximum width of a vessel.

This ship has more beam than that one.

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The crossbar of a mechanical balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended.
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The principal stem of the antler of a deer.
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(literary) The pole of a carriage.
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(textiles) A cylinder of wood, making part of a loom, on which weavers wind the warp before weaving and the cylinder on which the cloth is rolled, as it is woven.
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The straight part or shank of an anchor.
noun
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The central bar of a plow, to which the handles and colter are secured, and to the end of which are attached the oxen or horses that draw it.
noun
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In steam engines, a heavy iron lever having an oscillating motion on a central axis, one end of which is connected with the piston rod from which it receives motion, and the other with the crank of the wheel shaft.
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A ray or collection of approximatelyly parallel rays emitted from the sun or other luminous body.

A beam of light.

A beam of energy.

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(figuratively) A ray; a gleam.

A beam of hope, or of comfort.

noun
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One of the long feathers in the wing of a hawk.
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(music) A horizontal bar which connects the stems of two or more notes to group them and to indicate metric value.
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An elevated rectangular dirt pile used to cheaply build an elevated portion of a railway.
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(intransitive) To emit beams of light; shine; radiate.

To beam forth light.

verb
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(intransitive, figuratively) To smile broadly or especially cheerfully.
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To furnish or supply with beams; give the appearance of beams to.
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(science fiction) To transmit matter or information via a high-tech wireless mechanism.

Beam me up, Scotty; there's no intelligent life down here.

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(currying) To stretch on a beam, as a hide.
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(weaving) To put on a beam, as a chain or web.
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(music) To connect (musical notes) with a beam, or thick line, in music notation.
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To express by means of a radiant smile.

He beamed his approval of the new idea.

verb
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(obs.) The squared-off trunk of a tree.
noun
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One of the two large rollers of a loom.
noun
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The barlike, horizontal part of a plow, to which the handles, share, etc. are attached.
noun
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The crossbar of a balance; also, occasionally, the balance itself.
noun
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The main shaft of a deer's antler.
noun
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Any of the heavy, horizontal crosspieces of a ship.
noun
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A ship's breadth at its widest point.
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The side of a ship or the direction extending outward on either side at right angles to the fore-and-aft line of a ship, aircraft, etc.
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(slang) The width of the hips.
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(mech.) A lever that is moved back and forth by a piston rod and transmits its motion to the crank, etc. as in some early steam engines.
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A shaft or stream of light or other radiation, as of X-rays or nuclear particles.
noun
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A radiant look, smile, etc.
noun
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To give out (shafts of light); radiate in a beam or beams.
verb
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To construct (a ceiling) so that the beams are exposed.
verb
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To shine brightly; be radiant.
verb
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To smile warmly.
verb
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A squared-off log or a large, oblong piece of timber, metal, or stone used especially as a horizontal support in construction.
noun
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(informal) The widest part of a person's hips.

Broad in the beam.

noun
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A steel tube or wooden roller on which the warp is wound in a loom.
noun
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An oscillating lever connected to an engine piston rod and used to transmit power to the crankshaft.
noun
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The main horizontal bar on a plow to which the share, colter, and handles are attached.
noun
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on the beam
  • Following a radio beam. Used of aircraft.
  • On the right track; operating correctly.
idiom
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beam in one's own eye
  • a major moral flaw in oneself which one ignores while criticizing minor faults in others
idiom
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off the beam
  • not following the direction of a guiding beam, as an airplane
idiom
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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
idiom
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
beam
Plural:
beams

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

on the beam
beam in one's own eye
on the beam

Origin of beam

  • Middle English bem from Old English bēam bheuə- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Middle English beem, from Old English bēam (“tree, cross, gallows, column, pillar, wood, beam, splint, post, stock, rafter, piece of wood”), from Proto-Germanic *baumaz (“tree, beam, balk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhū- (“to grow, swell”). Cognate with West Frisian beam (“tree”), Dutch boom (“tree”), German Baum (“tree”), Albanian bimë (“a plant”) and Latin pōmō (“fruit tree”).

    From Wiktionary

  • The verb is from Middle English bemen, from Old English bēamian (“to shine, to cast forth rays or beams of light”), from the noun.

    From Wiktionary

Beam Sentence Examples

  • I lifted the heavy wood beam that crossed their door, securing it.

  • He turned the beam around the yard and then shut the door.

  • He stepped through the doorway and turned the beam of light on her.

  • Suddenly the beam caught a figure crouched ahead.

  • His Histoire de Beam was published at Paris in 1640.

More sentences

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Also Mentioned In

Words near beam in the Dictionary