BEAM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does beam mean? 

• BEAM (noun)
  The noun BEAM has 7 senses:

1. a signal transmitted along a narrow path; guides airplane pilots in darkness or bad weather

2. long thick piece of wood or metal or concrete, etc., used in construction

3. a group of nearly parallel lines of electromagnetic radiation

4. a column of light (as from a beacon)

5. (nautical) breadth amidships

6. the broad side of a ship

7. a gymnastic apparatus used by women gymnasts

  Familiarity information: BEAM used as a noun is common.

• BEAM (verb)
  The verb BEAM has 6 senses:

1. smile radiantly; express joy through one's facial expression

2. emit light; be bright, as of the sun or a light

3. express with a beaming face or smile

4. broadcast over the airwaves, as in radio or television

5. have a complexion with a strong bright color, such as red or pink

6. experience a feeling of well-being or happiness, as from good health or an intense emotion

  Familiarity information: BEAM used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEAM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A signal transmitted along a narrow path; guides airplane pilots in darkness or bad weather

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

beam; radio beam

Hypernyms ("beam" is a kind of...):

sign; signal; signaling (any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message)

Derivation:

beam (broadcast over the airwaves, as in radio or television)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Long thick piece of wood or metal or concrete, etc., used in construction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("beam" is a kind of...):

structural member (support that is a constituent part of any structure or building)

piece (a separate part of a whole)

Meronyms (substance of "beam"):

wood (the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beam"):

cantilever (projecting horizontal beam fixed at one end only)

box beam; box girder (a beam built up from boards; has a hollow rectangular cross section)

crossbeam; crosspiece; trave; traverse (a horizontal beam that extends across something)

timber (a beam made of wood)

tie; tie beam (a horizontal beam used to prevent two other structural members from spreading apart or separating)

shore; shoring (a beam or timber that is propped against a structure to provide support)

ridge; ridgepole; rooftree (a beam laid along the edge where two sloping sides of a roof meet at the top; provides an attachment for the upper ends of rafters)

rider plate (a horizontal beam (or plate) connected to the top of a ship's vertical keel or to the keelson)

balk; baulk; rafter (one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof)

keelson (a longitudinal beam connected to the keel of ship to strengthen it)

keel (one of the main longitudinal beams (or plates) of the hull of a vessel; can extend vertically into the water to provide lateral stability)

joist (beam used to support floors or roofs)

header; lintel (horizontal beam used as a finishing piece over a door or window)

header (a framing member crossing and supporting the ends of joists, studs, or rafters so as to transfer their weight to parallel joists, studs, or rafters)

girder (a beam made usually of steel; a main support in a structure)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A group of nearly parallel lines of electromagnetic radiation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

beam; electron beam; ray

Hypernyms ("beam" is a kind of...):

electromagnetic radiation; electromagnetic wave; nonparticulate radiation (radiation consisting of waves of energy associated with electric and magnetic fields resulting from the acceleration of an electric charge)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beam"):

cathode ray (a beam of electrons emitted by the cathode of an electrical discharge tube)

particle beam (a collimated flow of particles (atoms or electrons or molecules))

Sense 4

Meaning:

A column of light (as from a beacon)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

beam; beam of light; irradiation; light beam; ray; ray of light; shaft; shaft of light

Hypernyms ("beam" is a kind of...):

light; visible light; visible radiation ((physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beam"):

low beam (the beam of a car's headlights that provides illumination for a short distance)

laser beam (a beam of light generated by a laser)

sunbeam; sunray (a ray of sunlight)

high beam (the beam of a car's headlights that provides distant illumination)

heat ray (a ray that produces a thermal effect)

moon-ray; moon ray; moonbeam (a ray of moonlight)

Derivation:

beam (emit light; be bright, as of the sun or a light)

beamy (radiating or as if radiating light)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(nautical) breadth amidships

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("beam" is a kind of...):

breadth; width (the extent of something from side to side)

Domain category:

ship (a vessel that carries passengers or freight)

Derivation:

beamy (broad in the beam)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The broad side of a ship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

they sighted land on the port beam

Hypernyms ("beam" is a kind of...):

side (an extended outer surface of an object)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A gymnastic apparatus used by women gymnasts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

balance beam; beam

Hypernyms ("beam" is a kind of...):

exerciser; gymnastic apparatus (sports equipment used in gymnastic exercises)

• BEAM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they beam    ... he / she / it beams   
Past simple: beamed   
Past participle: beamed   
-ing form: beaming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Smile radiantly; express joy through one's facial expression

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "beam" is one way to...):

smile (change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Emit light; be bright, as of the sun or a light

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

beam; shine

Context example:

The fire beamed on their faces

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beam"):

burn; glow (shine intensely, as if with heat)

scintillate; twinkle; winkle (emit or reflect light in a flickering manner)

blaze (shine brightly and intensively)

flick; flicker (shine unsteadily)

shimmer (shine with a weak or fitful light)

outshine (shine brighter than)

flame; flare (shine with a sudden light)

glare (shine intensely)

beacon (shine like a beacon)

beat down (shine hard)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

Lights beam on the horizon
The horizon is beaming with lights

Derivation:

beam (a column of light (as from a beacon))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Express with a beaming face or smile

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

he beamed his approval

Hypernyms (to "beam" is one way to...):

evince; express; show (give expression to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sense 4

Meaning:

Broadcast over the airwaves, as in radio or television

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

air; beam; broadcast; send; transmit

Context example:

We cannot air this X-rated song

Hypernyms (to "beam" is one way to...):

air; bare; publicise; publicize (make public)

Cause:

air (be broadcast)

Domain category:

broadcast medium; broadcasting (a medium that disseminates via telecommunications)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beam"):

satellite (broadcast or disseminate via satellite)

sportscast (broadcast a sports event)

telecast; televise (broadcast via television)

interrogate (transmit (a signal) for setting off an appropriate response, as in telecommunication)

rebroadcast; rerun (broadcast again, as of a film)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

beam (a signal transmitted along a narrow path; guides airplane pilots in darkness or bad weather)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Have a complexion with a strong bright color, such as red or pink

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

beam; glow; radiate; shine

Context example:

Her face glowed when she came out of the sauna

Hypernyms (to "beam" is one way to...):

appear; look; seem (give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 6

Meaning:

Experience a feeling of well-being or happiness, as from good health or an intense emotion

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

beam; glow; radiate; shine

Context example:

Her face radiated with happiness

Hypernyms (to "beam" is one way to...):

experience; feel (undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

The aim is to eventually build more powerful laser beams that could push debris into the Earth’s atmosphere, where it would burn up.

(Australia Developing Lasers to Track, Destroy Space Junk, VOA)

We see some neutron stars as pulsars, rapidly spinning objects emitting beams of light that, much like a lighthouse, regularly sweep across our line of sight.

(NASA’s Fermi Mission Links Nearby Pulsar’s Gamma-ray ‘Halo’ to Antimatter Puzzle, NASA)

The spacecraft is in the process of beaming back science and engineering data collected during its passage.

(Cassini Spacecraft Dives Between Saturn and Its Rings, NASA)

There, indeed, just under the corner of the great beam the house rested on, two feet were sticking out, shod in silver shoes with pointed toes.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Mars in Capricorn will send a sublime beam to the new moon, indicating a trip could turn out to be possible now.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Pulsars are dense remnants of dead stars that regularly emit beams of radio waves, which is why some call them "cosmic lighthouses."

(Listening for Gravitational Waves Using Pulsars, NASA)

A pulsar is a spinning, magnetized neutron star that sweeps regular pulses of radiation in two symmetrical beams across the cosmos.

(NuSTAR Helps Find Universe's Brightest Pulsars, NASA)

Graphene, among other materials, can capture particles of light called photons, combine them, and produce a more powerful optical beam.

(Graphene paves the way to faster high-speed communications, University of Cambridge)

Earlier this year, Harvard researchers speculated that these radio bursts could be “beams set up by extragalactic civilizations to potentially power light sails.”

(Mysterious Radio Signals Detected from Deep Space, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The fraction of beam intensity being lost per unit length of the transmitting material in a chosen x direction.

(Attenuation Coefficient, NCI Thesaurus)