Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The vapor phase of water.
  • noun A mist of cooling water vapor.
  • noun Pressurized water vapor used for heating, cooking, or to provide mechanical power.
  • noun The power produced by a machine using pressurized water vapor.
  • noun Steam heating.
  • noun Power; energy.
  • intransitive verb To produce or emit steam.
  • intransitive verb To become or rise up as steam.
  • intransitive verb To become misted or covered with steam.
  • intransitive verb To move by means of steam power.
  • intransitive verb Informal To become very angry; fume.
  • intransitive verb To expose to steam, as in cooking.
  • intransitive verb To cover or mist with steam.
  • intransitive verb Informal To make angry.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To give out steam or vapor; exhale any kind of fume or vapor.
  • To rise in a vaporous form; pass off in visible vapor.
  • To move or travel by the agency of steam: as, the vessel steamed into port.
  • To flame or blaze up.
  • To exhale; evaporate.
  • To treat with steam; expose to steam; apply steam to for any purpose: as, to steam cloth; to steam potatoes instead of boiling them; to steam food for cattle; steamed bread.
  • noun Vapor; a rising vapor; an exhalation.
  • noun Water in a gaseous state; the gas or vapor of water, especially at temperatures above 100° C.
  • noun Water in a visible vesicular condition produced by the condensation of vapor of water in air.
  • noun Figuratively, force; energy.
  • noun A flame or blaze; a ray of light.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To emit steam or vapor.
  • intransitive verb To rise in vapor; to issue, or pass off, as vapor.
  • intransitive verb To move or travel by the agency of steam.
  • intransitive verb To generate steam.
  • transitive verb obsolete To exhale.
  • transitive verb To expose to the action of steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing, or preparing
  • noun The elastic, aëriform fluid into which water is converted when heated to the boiling point; water in the state of vapor.
  • noun The mist formed by condensed vapor; visible vapor; -- so called in popular usage.
  • noun Any exhalation.
  • noun steam which does not contain water held in suspension mechanically; -- sometimes applied to superheated steam.
  • noun See under Exhaust.
  • noun steam of which the pressure greatly exceeds that of the atmosphere.
  • noun steam of which the pressure is less than, equal to, or not greatly above, that of the atmosphere.
  • noun steam at the temperature of the boiling point which corresponds to its pressure; -- sometimes also applied to wet steam.
  • noun steam heated to a temperature higher than the boiling point corresponding to its pressure. It can not exist in contact with water, nor contain water, and resembles a perfect gas; -- called also surcharged steam, anhydrous steam, and steam gas.
  • noun steam which contains water held in suspension mechanically; -- called also misty steam.
  • noun A fan blower driven directly by a steam engine.
  • noun a boiler for producing steam. See Boiler, 3, and Note. In the illustration, the shell a of the boiler is partly in section, showing the tubes, or flues, which the hot gases, from the fire beneath the boiler, enter, after traversing the outside of the shell, and through which the gases are led to the smoke pipe d, which delivers them to the chimney; b is the manhole; c the dome; e the steam pipe; f the feed and blow-off pipe; g the safety valve; hthe water gauge.
  • noun a car driven by steam power, or drawn by a locomotive.
  • noun a carriage upon wheels moved on common roads by steam.
  • noun See Steam jacket, under Jacket.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English steme, from Old English stēam.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English stēam

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Examples

  • The percentage by weight of steam in a mixture of steam and water is called the _quality of the steam_.

    Steam, Its Generation and Use

  • So, this is what we called steam fog, which is developed across the area, really kind of an eerie sight to wake up and see that kind of hovering over the ocean.

    CNN Transcript Jan 10, 2010 2010

  • Now they had made a thing which they called a steam-ram, an iron-covered boat, like unto a serpent, even like unto the evil beast which crawleth upon its belly, eating dirt, as do many of those who made it.

    The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 2, February, 1862 Devoted To Literature And National Policy Various

  • Albany in what he called a steam vessel named the _Clermont_.

    Pushing to the Front Orison Swett Marden 1887

  • A thousand generations had lived and died, an immense volume of history had been enacted, the heroes of all the ages, and almost those of our own time, had fulfilled their destinies and passed away, before it came about that a mere physical fact should fill a larger place in our lives than all examples, and that the evanescent vapor which we call steam should change daily, and effectively, the courses and modes of human action, and erect life upon another plane.

    Steam, Steel and Electricity James W. Steele

  • Haig, bald and fuming as if steam is about to issue not only from his ears but also from his fingertips, always stands at a 60-degree angle -- or darts here and there at the same tottering slant.

    David Finkle: First Nighter: Yes, Prime Minister Prime Stage Comedy Meat David Finkle 2010

  • He says demand won't really gain steam until passengers feel that the recession is firmly in the rearview mirror and it is safe to spend.

    Delta Air Lines CFO urges restraint on capacity 2009

  • Only once the independent comics (aka "comix") movement gathered steam from the late 1980s to early in the new millennium did at least a portion of the industry dare to provide the variety of sequential-art narratives that would appeal to a large audience.

    The Myth of the Fall of the American Comic Book 2009

  • Simmering down: A small plume of ash, dust and steam is seen coming from the Iceland volcano which caused travel chaos

    Photo Gallery of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull Volcano | Impact Lab 2010

  • Haig, bald and fuming as if steam is about to issue not only from his ears but also from his fingertips, always stands at a 60-degree angle -- or darts here and there at the same tottering slant.

    David Finkle: First Nighter: Yes, Prime Minister Prime Stage Comedy Meat David Finkle 2010

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