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BEAM

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beam

  [beem]
Use BEAM in a Sentence
–noun
1. any of various relatively long pieces of metal, wood, stone, etc., manufactured or shaped esp. for use as rigid members or parts of structures or machines.
2. Building Trades. a horizontal bearing member, as a joist or lintel.
3. Engineering. a rigid member or structure supported at each end, subject to bending stresses from a direction perpendicular to its length.
4. Nautical.
a. a horizontal structural member, usually transverse, for supporting the decks and flats of a vessel.
b. the extreme width of a vessel.
c. the shank of an anchor.
5. Aeronautics. the direction perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of an aircraft and outward from the side.
6. the widest part.
7. Slang. the measure across both hips or buttocks: broad in the beam.
8. Machinery.
a. walking beam.
b. (in a loom) a roller or cylinder on which the warp is wound before weaving.
c. a similar cylinder on which cloth is wound as it is woven.
9. the crossbar of a balance, from the ends of which the scales or pans are suspended.
10. a ray of light: The sun shed its beams upon the vineyard.
11. a group of nearly parallel rays.
12. Radio, Aeronautics. a signal transmitted along a narrow course, used to guide pilots through darkness, bad weather, etc.
13. Electronics. a narrow stream of electrons, as that emitted from the electron gun of a cathode ray tube.
14. the angle at which a microphone or loudspeaker functions best.
15. the cone-shaped range of effective use of a microphone or loudspeaker.
16. Citizens Band Radio Slang. beam antenna.
17. a gleam; suggestion: a beam of hope.
18. a radiant smile.
19. the principal stem of the antler of a deer.
–verb (used with object)
20. to emit in or as in beams or rays.
21. Radio. to transmit (a signal) in a particular direction.
22. Radio and Television. to direct (a program, commercial message, etc.) to a predetermined audience.
–verb (used without object)
23. to emit beams, as of light.
24. to smile radiantly or happily.
—Idioms
25. beam in, Citizens Band Radio Slang. to be received under optimum conditions; be heard loud and clear: They told me I was really beaming in.
26. fly the beam, Radio, Aeronautics. (of an aircraft) to be guided by a beam.
27. off the beam,
a. not on the course indicated by a radio beam.
b. Informal. wrong; incorrect: The pollsters were off the beam again for the last presidential election.
28. on the beam,
a. on the course indicated by a radio beam, as an airplane.
b. Nautical. at right angles to the keel.
c. Informal. proceeding well; correct; exact: Their research is right on the beam and the results should be very valuable.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME beem, OE bēam tree, post, ray of light; c. OFris bām, OS bōm, D boom, OHG boum (G Baum), Goth bagms, ON bathmr tree; the identity of the consonant which has assimilated itself to the following m is unclear, as is the original root; perh. Gmc *bagmaz < *bargmaz < IE *bhorǵh-mos growth; see barrow 2

Related forms:
beamless, adjective
beamlike, adjective

Synonyms:
10. See gleam. 20. See shine.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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beam   (bēm)   
n.  

  1. A squared-off log or a large, oblong piece of timber, metal, or stone used especially as a horizontal support in construction.

  2. Nautical

    1. A transverse structural member of a ship's frame, used to support a deck and to brace the sides against stress.

    2. The breadth of a ship at the widest point.

    3. The side of a ship: sighted land off the starboard beam.

    4. The bar of a balance from which weighing pans are suspended.

    5. Sports A balance beam.

    6. A ray or shaft of light.

    7. A concentrated stream of particles or a similar propagation of waves: a beam of protons; a beam of light.

  3. Informal The widest part of a person's hips: broad in the beam.

  4. A steel tube or wooden roller on which the warp is wound in a loom.

  5. An oscillating lever connected to an engine piston rod and used to transmit power to the crankshaft.

    1. The bar of a balance from which weighing pans are suspended.

    2. Sports A balance beam.

    3. A ray or shaft of light.

    4. A concentrated stream of particles or a similar propagation of waves: a beam of protons; a beam of light.

  7. The main horizontal bar on a plow to which the share, colter, and handles are attached.

  8. One of the main stems of a deer's antlers.

    1. A ray or shaft of light.

    2. A concentrated stream of particles or a similar propagation of waves: a beam of protons; a beam of light.

  10. A radio beam.

v.   beamed, beam·ing, beams

v.   intr.

  1. To radiate light; shine.

  2. To smile expansively.

v.   tr.

  1. To emit or transmit: beam a message via satellite.

  2. To express by means of a radiant smile: He beamed his approval of the new idea.


[Middle English bem, from Old English bēam; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
(I-)beam [ˈ(ɑɪ)bim]

  1. n.
    IBM, International Business Machines stock shares. (Securities markets. See also big blue.) : How much beam do you own?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

beam 
O.E. beam originally "living tree," but by 1000 also "post, ship's timber," from W.Gmc. *baumoz (cf. O.Fris. bam, Du. boom, Ger. Baum "tree"), perhaps from PIE verb root *bu- "to grow." Meaning of "ray of light" developed in O.E., probably because it was used by Bede to render L. columna lucis, Biblical "pillar of fire." Nautical sense of "one of the horizontal transverse timbers holding a ship together" is from 1627, hence "greatest breadth of a ship," and slang broad in the beam "wide-hipped" (of persons). The verb meaning "emit rays of light" is from c.1440; sense of "to smile radiantly" is from 1893; that of "to direct radio transmissions" is from 1927. To be on the beam (1941) was originally an aviator's term for "to follow the course indicated by a radio beam." Lewis Carroll may have thought he was inventing beamish in "Jabberwocky," but it is attested from 1530.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: beam
Pronunciation: 'bEm
Function: noun
1 : a ray or shaft of light
2 : a collection of nearly parallel rays (as Xrays) or a stream of particles (as electrons)
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Computing Dictionary

beam
[Star Trek Classic's "Beam me up, Scotty!"] To transfer softcopy of a file electronically; most often in combining forms such as "beam me a copy" or "beam that over to his site". Compare blast, snarf, BLT.
[The Jargon File]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Bible Dictionary

Beam

occurs in the Authorized Version as the rendering of various Hebrew words. In 1 Sam. 17:7, it means a weaver's frame or principal beam; in Hab. 2:11, a crossbeam or girder; 2 Kings 6:2, 5, a cross-piece or rafter of a house; 1 Kings 7:6, an architectural ornament as a projecting step or moulding; Ezek. 41:25, a thick plank. In the New Testament the word occurs only in Matt. 7:3, 4, 5, and Luke 6:41, 42, where it means (Gr. dokos) a large piece of wood used for building purposes, as contrasted with "mote" (Gr. karphos), a small piece or mere splinter. "Mote" and "beam" became proverbial for little and great faults.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

beam

see broad in the beam; off the beam.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
BEAM
biology, electronics, aesthetics, and mechanics (robotics)
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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