GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
last match results
Found 3 definitions
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Beam (bēm), n. [AS. beám beam, post, tree, ray of light; akin to OFries. bām tree, OS. bōm, D. boom, OHG. boum, poum, G. baum, Icel. baðmr, Goth. bagms and Gr. φῦμα a growth, φῦναι to become, to be. Cf. L. radius staff, rod, spoke of a wheel, beam or ray, and G. strahl arrow, spoke of a wheel, ray or beam, flash of lightning. √97. See Be; cf. Boom a spar.]
1. Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
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2. One of the principal horizontal timbers of a building or ship.
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The beams of a vessel are strong pieces of timber stretching across from side to side to support the decks. Totten.
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3. The width of a vessel; as, “one vessel is said to have more beam than another”.
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4. The bar of a balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended.
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The doubtful beam long nods from side to side. Pope.
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5. The principal stem or horn of a stag or other deer, which bears the antlers, or branches.
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6. The pole of a carriage. [Poetic] Dryden.
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7. A cylinder of wood, making part of a loom, on which weavers wind the warp before weaving; also, the cylinder on which the cloth is rolled, as it is woven; one being called the fore beam, the other the back beam.
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8. The straight part or shank of an anchor.
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9. The main part 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.
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10. (Steam Engine) 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; -- called also working beam or walking beam.
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11. A ray or collection of parallel rays emitted from the sun or other luminous body; as, “a beam of light, or of heat”.
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How far that little candle throws his beams! Shak.
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12. (Fig.): A ray; a gleam; as, “a beam of comfort”.
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Mercy with her genial beam. Keble.
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13. One of the long feathers in the wing of a hawk; -- called also beam feather.
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Abaft the beam (Naut.), in an arc of the horizon between a line that crosses the ship at right angles, or in the direction of her beams, and that point of the compass toward which her stern is directed. -- Beam center (Mach.), the fulcrum or pin on which the working beam of an engine vibrates. -- Beam compass, an instrument consisting of a rod or beam, having sliding sockets that carry steel or pencil points; -- used for drawing or describing large circles. -- Beam engine, a steam engine having a working beam to transmit power, in distinction from one which has its piston rod attached directly to the crank of the wheel shaft. -- Before the beam (Naut.), in an arc of the horizon included between a line that crosses the ship at right angles and that point of the compass toward which the ship steers. -- On the beam, in a line with the beams, or at right angles with the keel. -- On the weather beam, on the side of a ship which faces the wind. -- To be on her beam ends, to incline, as a vessel, so much on one
side that her beams approach a vertical position.
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Beam, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Beamed (bēmd); p. pr. & vb. n. Beaming.] To send forth; to emit; -- followed ordinarily by forth; as, “to beam forth light”.
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Beam, v. i. To emit beams of light.
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He beamed, the daystar of the rising age. Trumbull.
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