beam
beam
(bēm) noun
Abbr. bm.
1.
A squared-off log or a large, oblong piece of timber, metal, or stone used especially as a horizontal support in construction.
2.
Nautical. a. A transverse structural member of a ship's frame, used to support a deck and to brace the sides against stress. b. The breadth of a ship at the widest point. c. The side of a ship: sighted land off the starboard beam.
3. Informal. The widest part of a person's hips: broad in the beam.
4. A steel tube or wooden roller on which the warp is wound in a loom.
5. An oscillating lever connected to an engine piston rod and used to transmit power to the crankshaft.
6. a. The bar of a balance from which weighing pans are suspended. b. Sports. A balance beam.
7. The main horizontal bar on a plow to which the share, colter, and handles are attached.
8. One of the main stems of a deer's antlers.
9. a. A ray or shaft of light. b. A concentrated stream of particles or a similar propagation of waves: a beam of protons; a beam of light.
10. A radio beam.
verb
beamed, beaming, beams
verb
, intransitive
1.
To radiate light; shine.
2.
To smile expansively.
verb
, transitive
1.
To emit or transmit: beam a message via satellite.
2.
To express by means of a radiant smile: He beamed his approval of the new idea.
idiom.
on the beam
1.
Following a radio beam. Used of aircraft.
2.
On the right track; operating correctly.
[Middle English bem, from Old English bēam.]