steam

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Generally the driver generally passes the word when he intends shutting off steam, so that the alteration in the firing can be effected before the steam is actually shut off; and in this way the regulation of the fire and that of the steam are virtually done together.

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Definitions (49)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (12)

  1. noun The vapor phase of water.
  2. noun A mist of cooling water vapor.
  3. noun Pressurized water vapor used for heating, cooking, or to provide mechanical power.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (27)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (7)

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Examples (50)

  • Walking through the steam was a surreal experience which felt like being on another planet. —  TravelPod.com Recent Updates
  • More water is flashed into steam which is also subsequently condensed into more salt-free water. —  Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]
  • It seems to be picking up steam which is right in line with my thought that SSD would really hit the mainstream in 2009 .... —  Megite Technology News: What's Happening Right Now
  • The soldier-engineer, taking courage from the docile attitude of the strikers, pulled the throttle wide open, while the soldier-fireman was heaving coal into the fiery furnace, even though the steam was at the time "blowing off." —  Bamboo Tales
  • [14] The result of his partial, and unfriendly course, was to bring the cruise of the Chickamauga to a speedy end; for it was impossible for her to keep the sea without a supply of fuel--steam, which is merely an auxiliary in a properly constituted man of war, being the Chickamauga's sole motive power. —  The Narrative of a Blockade-Runner
 

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This word has been looked up 109 times.

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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

gas ·  smoke ·  vapor ·  heat ·  fluid ·  spray ·  metal ·  fog ·  oxygen ·  flame ·  engine ·  fume

Used in the same contextWord Family

steam:   Steam ·  steaming ·  steamed ·  steams
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 (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English steme, from Old English stēam.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English steem, stem, from Anglo-Saxon steám, vapor, smell, smoke, = Fries, stoame = Dutch stoom, steam; origin unknown.
 

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/stim/
by American Heritage

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