boom

Nautical. any of various more or less horizontal spars or poles for extending the feet of sails, especially fore-and-aft sails, for handling cargo, suspending mooring lines alongside a vessel, pushing a vessel away from wharves, etc.

Aeronautics.

an outrigger used on certain aircraft for connecting the tail surfaces to the fuselage.

a maneuverable and retractable pipe on a tanker aircraft for refueling another aircraft in flight.

chord¹ ( def 4 ).

a chain, cable, series of connected floating timbers, or the like, serving to obstruct navigation, confine floating timber, etc.

the area thus shut off.

Machinery. a spar or beam projecting from the mast of a derrick for supporting or guiding the weights to be lifted.

(on a motion-picture or television stage) a spar or beam on a mobile crane for holding or manipulating a microphone or camera.

verb (used with object)

to extend or position, as a sail (usually followed by out or off ).

to manipulate (an object) by or as by means of a crane or derrick.

verb (used without object)

to sail at full speed.

Idioms

10.

lower the boom, to take decisive punitive action: The government has lowered the boom on tax evaders.

Origin:
1635–45; < Dutch: tree, pole, beam

Related forms

boom·less, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

boom¹ (buːm)

—vb
1.	to make a deep prolonged resonant sound, as of thunder or artillery fire
2.	to prosper or cause to prosper vigorously and rapidly: business boomed

—n
3.	a deep prolonged resonant sound: the boom of the sea
4.	the cry of certain animals, esp the bittern
5.	Compare depression a period of high economic growth characterized by rising wages, profits, and prices, full employment, and high levels of investment, trade, and other economic activity
6.	any similar period of high activity
7.	the activity itself: a baby boom

[C15: perhaps from Dutch bommen, of imitative origin]

boom² (buːm)

—n
1.	nautical a spar to which a sail is fastened to control its position relative to the wind
2.	a beam or spar pivoting at the foot of the mast of a derrick, controlling the distance from the mast at which a load is lifted or lowered
3.	a pole, usually extensible, carrying an overhead microphone and projected over a film or television set
4.	a. a barrier across a waterway, usually consisting of a chain of connected floating logs, to confine free-floating logs, protect a harbour from attack, etc
	b. the area so barred off

[C16: from Dutch boom tree, beam]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

boom

mid-15c., earliest use was for bees and wasps, probably echoic of humming. The meaning "make a loud noise" is 15c. Cf. bomb. Boom box first attested 1978.

boom

"long pole," 1540s, from Scottish boun, borrowed from Du. boom "tree, pole, beam," from a M.Du. word analogous to O.E. beam (see beam). The business sense (1873) is sometimes said to be from this word, from the nautical meaning "a long spar run out to extend the foot of a

sail;" a ship "booming" being one in full sail. But it could just as well be from boom (v.), on the notion of "suddenness."

Slang Dictionary

boom definition

in.
to listen to music, as with a boom box. : If you're going to boom all the time, why don't you get some headphones?

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

boom

see lower the boom.