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noun
1.
any of various relatively long pieces of metal, wood, stone, etc., manufactured or shaped especially 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.
EXPANDAeronautics. 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.
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.
COLLAPSEthe 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.
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On the beam
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
verb (used without object)
Idioms23.
to emit beams, as of light.
24.
to smile radiantly or happily.
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:
before 900; Middle English beem, Old English bēam tree, post, ray of light; cognate with Old Frisian bām, Old Saxon bōm, Dutch boom, Old High German boum (German Baum), Gothic bagms, Old Norse bathmr tree; the identity of the consonant which has assimilated itself to the following m is unclear, as is the original root; perhaps Germanic *bagmaz < *bargmaz < Indo-European *bhorǵh-mos growth; see barrow2
before 900; Middle English beem, Old English bēam tree, post, ray of light; cognate with Old Frisian bām, Old Saxon bōm, Dutch boom, Old High German boum (German Baum), Gothic bagms, Old Norse bathmr tree; the identity of the consonant which has assimilated itself to the following m is unclear, as is the original root; perhaps Germanic *bagmaz < *bargmaz < Indo-European *bhorǵh-mos growth; see barrow2
Related forms
beam·less, adjective
beam·like, adjective
out·beam, verb (used with object)
un·beamed, adjective
un·der·beam, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To on the beam
Etymonline
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 "tree, gallows, beam," M.Du. boom, Ger. Baum "tree"), perhaps from PIE verb root *bu- "to grow" (see be). Meaning of "ray of light" developed in O.E., probably because
EXPANDit 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 1620s, 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 mid-15c.; 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.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
(I-)beam definition[ˈ(ɑɪ)bim]
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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on the beam definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Idioms & Phrases
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