| beam | |
| 1. n. Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use. | |
| 2. n. One of the principal horizontal timbers of a building; one of the transverse members of a ship's frame on which the decks are laid — supported at the sides by knees in wooden ships and by stringers in | |
| 3. n. (nautical) The maximum width of a vessel. | |
| This ship has more beam than that one. | |
| 4. n. The crossbar of a mechanical balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended. | |
| 5. n. The principal stem of the antler of a deer. | |
| 6. n. (literary) The pole of a carriage or chariot. | |
| 7. n. (textiles) 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. | |
| 8. n. The straight part or shank of an anchor. | |
| 9. n. 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. n. 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 th | |
| 11. n. A ray or collection of approximately parallel rays emitted from the sun or other luminous body. | |
| a beam of light | |
| a beam of energy | |
| 12. n. (figuratively) A ray; a gleam. | |
| a beam of hope, or of comfort | |
| 13. n. One of the long feathers in the wing of a hawk. | |
| 14. n. (music) A horizontal bar which connects the stems of two or more notes to group them and to indicate metric value. | |
| 15. n. (railway) An elevated rectangular dirt pile used to cheaply build an elevated portion of a railway. | |
| 16. v. To emit beams of light; shine; radiate. | |
| to beam forth light | |
| 17. v. (intransitive, figuratively) To smile broadly or especially cheerfully. | |
| 18. v. To furnish or supply with beams | |
| 19. v. To give the appearance of beams to. | |
| 20. v. (transitive, science fiction) To transmit matter or information via a high-tech wireless mechanism. | |
| Beam me up, Scotty; there's no intelligent life down here. | |
| The injured crewmembers were immediately beamed to sickbay. | |
| 21. v. (transitive, currying) To stretch something (for example an animal hide) on a beam. | |
| 22. v. (transitive, weaving) To put (something) on a beam | |
| 23. v. (transitive, music) To connect (musical notes) with a beam, or thick line, in music notation. | |
