beam

Meaning

Noun

1. Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
2. One of the principal horizontal structural members, usually of steel, timber, or concrete, of a building.
3. One of the transverse members of a ship's frame on which the decks are laid, and acting as part of the support for keeping the sides of the vessel in shape — supported at the sides by knees in wooden ships and by stringers in steel ones; cf. abeam, beam-ends.
4. The maximum width of a vessel (note that a vessel with a beam of 15 foot can also be said to be 15 foot abeam).
5. The direction across a vessel, perpendicular to fore-and-aft.
6. The straight part or shank of an anchor.
7. The crossbar of a mechanical balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. A ray or collection of approximately parallel rays emitted from the sun or other luminous body.
11. (informal) The principal stem of the antler of a deer.
12. (informal) One of the long feathers in the wing of a hawk.
13. The pole of a carriage or chariot.
14. 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.
15. A ray; a gleam.
16. A horizontal bar which connects the stems of two or more notes to group them and to indicate metric value.
17. An elevated rectangular dirt pile used to cheaply build an elevated portion of a railway.
18. Ellipsis of balance beam.
19. A broad smile.

Verb

1. To emit beams of light; to shine; to radiate.
2. To smile broadly or especially cheerfully.
3. To furnish or supply with beams.
4. To give the appearance of beams to.
5. To transmit matter or information via a high-tech wireless mechanism.
6. To transmit, especially by direct wireless means such as infrared.
7. To stretch something (for example, an animal hide) on a beam.
8. To put (something) on a beam.
9. To connect (musical notes) with a beam, or thick line, in music notation.

Concepts

beam

ray

girder

shine

rafter

radiate

gleam

joist

log

ray of light

flash

glow

bar

crossbeam

smile

glare

light

balance beam

timber

light beam

electron beam

pole

line

broadcast

shaft

rod

air

send

transmit

radio beam

crosspiece

balk

be jubilant

column

light ray

wire

glisten

glitter

prop

grin

truss

plank

brace

light up

beam of light

irradiation

shaft of light

sleeper

radius

spoke

tree

bundle

spar

cross-beam

support

traverse

flare

spark

radiant

breadth

expanse

vastness

width

wingspan

blush

flush

redden

brilliance

circulate

distribute

sparkle

twinkle

counterpoise

scale

steelyard

rays

rays of light

board

strake

arc light

flashlight

searchlight

sill

threshold

strut

brighten

brightness

lustre

cloth-beam

bolster

branch

needle

team

B

b

BM

large timber

tree-trunk

trunk

eradiate

irradiate

bunch

dossier

pack

packet

sheaf

tuft

wisp

stringer

crane girder

pencil

prong

fasciculus

tract

tractus

beam current

bridging beam

bridging joist

cross beam

cross rail

transbeam

plow beam

canal

meatus

path

road

track

way

stud

arrow

shine brightly

row

stick

cudgel

channel

channelise

channelize

consign

dispatch

get off

mail

mail out

project

refer

route

second

send in

send out

transfer

transport

blaze

excel at

resplend

shine at

stand out

bake

fry

roast

trave

barrier

boom

care

care for

forward

land

pass

send off

radio wave

block

weaver’s beam

ledger

post

bridge

rocker

yoke

shoulder-yoke

moonbeam

cross

piece of wood

arbor

span

etc.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/biːm/

Etymology

From Middle English beem, from Old English bēam (“tree, cross, gallows, column, pillar, wood, beam, splint, post, stock, rafter, piece of wood”), from Proto-West Germanic *baum, from Proto-Germanic *baumaz (“tree, beam, balk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to grow, swell”). Cognate with West Frisian beam (“tree”), Saterland Frisian Boom (“tree”), Dutch boom (“tree”), German Low German Boom (“tree”), German Baum (“tree”), Luxembourgish Bam (“tree”), Albanian bimë (“a plant”). Doublet of boom.
The original English meaning of beam ("tree") is preserved in some compound words such as quickbeam.
The verb is from Middle English bemen, from Old English bēamian (“to shine, to cast forth rays or beams of light”), from the noun.