beam
Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared…Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» We need to shore up this beam.
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9 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 10
By meaning 5
Examples
75 sentencesWe need to shore up this beam.
Tom turned on his high beams.
A beam of sunlight came through the clouds.
deEin Sonnenstrahl brach durch die Wolken. — cost
Meaning
20 sensesAny large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
Balken
ба́лкаbálka, брусbrus, бревно́brevnó
ба́лкаbálka
(figuratively)A ray; a gleam.
a beam of hope, or of comfort
Strahl
лучluč
про́міньpróminʹ
One of the principal horizontal structural members, usually of steel, timber, or concrete, of a building.
Balken
ба́лкаbálka, перекла́динаperekládina
More meanings 17
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.
Pflugbaum, Grindel
гря́дильgrjádilʹ
(literary)The pole of a carriage or chariot.
Deichsel
ды́шлоdýšlo
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).
This ship has more beam than that one.
Breite
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.
бимсbims, тра́верзtráverz
The crossbar of a mechanical balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended.
коромы́слоkoromýslo
(informal)The principal stem of the antler of a deer, which branches grow out from.
A horizontal bar which connects the stems of two or more notes to group them and to indicate metric value.
Balken
реброrebro
The straight part or shank of an anchor.
веретено́veretenó
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.
шату́нšatún
- a signal transmitted along a narrow path; guides airplane pilots in darkness or bad weather
- long thick piece of wood or metal or concrete, etc., used in construction
- a group of nearly parallel lines of electromagnetic radiation
- a column of light (as from a beacon)
Origin
From Middle English bem, beem, from Old English bēam (“tree, cross, gallows, column, pillaFrom Middle English bem, 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”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: beamsSynonyms
15 synonyms- a signal transmitted along a narrow path; guides airplane pilots in darkness or bad weather:radio beam
- a group of nearly parallel lines of electromagnetic radiation:rayelectron beam
- a column of light (as from a beacon):beam of lightlight beamrayray of lightshaftshaft of lightirradiation
- a gymnastic apparatus used by women gymnasts:balance beam
Word family
124 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.