beam

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“
It's narrow, the beam is about a 105 feet.

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Definitions (81)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (20)

  1. noun A squared-off log or a large, oblong piece of timber, metal, or stone used especially as a horizontal support in construction.
  2. noun Nautical A transverse structural member of a ship's frame, used to support a deck and to brace the sides against stress.
  3. noun Nautical The breadth of a ship at the widest point.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (45)

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Examples (50)

  • The predator seemed to twitch— And a second later the beam was again blocked as a second swarm of vultures came up from below to fill the gap. —  Warhorse
  • Only what came into our beam was a machine, unlike any I had seen before. —  Norton, Andre - Uncharted Stars (v1.0) (html).html
  • When the beam was aligned with the proper point on the stone, the rune flashed a bright red. —  Death Gate Cycle 2 - Elven Star
  • Otherwise, you'll have a four hour delay before the beam is available again She set down her computer. —  AnalogSFF,June2006
  • Getting a good bite of a 2x4 or going through a beam is a must. —  Apartment Therapy Main
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This word has been looked up 147 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

ray ·  light ·  wave ·  shaft ·  bolt ·  frame ·  shield ·  panel ·  flash ·  column ·  ring ·  wire

Used in the same contextWord Family

beam:   beams ·  beaming ·  beamed
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English bem, from Old English bēam; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English beem, beme, etc., from Anglo-Saxon beám, a tree, a piece of timber, a ray of light, = Old Saxon bōm = OFries. bām = Dutch boom (later English boom) = Middle Low German bōm, Low German boom = Old High German Middle High German boum, German baum, and prob. = Icelandic badhmr = Gothic (Moesogothic) bagms (the Icelandic and Gothic (Moesogothic) presenting unexplained variations of form), a tree; perhaps akin to Greek φῡμα, a growth, and Sanskrit bhūman, earth, from √ bhū, grow, become: see be, bower, boor, big = bigg, etc., and cf. the doublet boom. The sense of ‘ray of light’ is peculiar to Anglo-Saxon and English, apparently transitive L. columna (lucis), a column or pillar of light: cf. Latin radius, a spoke of a wheel, a rod, a ray; German strahl, an arrow, a spoke, a ray or beam.
  2. from Middle English beemen, bemen, from Anglo-Saxon *beámian (Somner), radiate; from the noun.
 

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/bim/
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