STREAM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does stream mean? 

• STREAM (noun)
  The noun STREAM has 5 senses:

1. a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth

2. dominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive events or ideas

3. the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression

4. something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously

5. a steady flow of a fluid (usually from natural causes)

  Familiarity information: STREAM used as a noun is common.

• STREAM (verb)
  The verb STREAM has 5 senses:

1. to extend, wave or float outward, as if in the wind

2. exude profusely

3. move in large numbers

4. rain heavily

5. flow freely and abundantly

  Familiarity information: STREAM used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STREAM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

stream; watercourse

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

body of water; water (the part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean))

Meronyms (parts of "stream"):

meander (a bend or curve, as in a stream or river)

midstream (the middle of a stream)

crossing; ford (a shallow area in a stream that can be forded)

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

branch (a stream or river connected to a larger one)

tidal river; tidal stream; tidewater river; tidewater stream (a stream in which the effects of the tide extend far upstream)

rill; rivulet; run; runnel; streamlet (a small stream)

river (a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek))

headstream (a stream that forms the source of a river)

brook; creek (a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river))

Derivation:

stream (flow freely and abundantly)

streamlet (a small stream)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Dominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive events or ideas

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

current; flow; stream

Context example:

the current of history

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

course; line (a connected series of events or actions or developments)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

flow; stream

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

motion; move; movement (the act of changing location from one place to another)

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

flood; outpouring; overflow (a large flow)

release; spill; spillage (the act of allowing a fluid to escape)

Derivation:

stream (flow freely and abundantly)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

flow; stream

Context example:

the museum had planned carefully for the flow of visitors

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

motion (a state of change)

Derivation:

stream (move in large numbers)

stream (to extend, wave or float outward, as if in the wind)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A steady flow of a fluid (usually from natural causes)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

current; stream

Context example:

the hose ejected a stream of water

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

flow; flowing (the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases))

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

tidal current; tidal flow (the water current caused by the tides)

rip current; riptide (a strong surface current flowing outwards from a shore)

undercurrent; undertide (a current below the surface of a fluid)

torrent; violent stream (a violently fast stream of water (or other liquid))

eddy; twist (a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind resulting when the current of a fluid doubles back on itself)

maelstrom; vortex; whirlpool (a powerful circular current of water (usually the result of conflicting tides))

ocean current (the steady flow of surface ocean water in a prevailing direction)

Derivation:

stream (flow freely and abundantly)

• STREAM (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

To extend, wave or float outward, as if in the wind

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

their manes streamed like stiff black pennants in the wind

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

be adrift; blow; drift; float (be in motion due to some air or water current)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

stream (something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Exude profusely

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

His nose streamed blood

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

exudate; exude; ooze; ooze out; transude (release (a liquid) in drops or small quantities)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move in large numbers

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

pour; pullulate; stream; swarm; teem

Context example:

beggars pullulated in the plaza

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

crowd; crowd together (to gather together in large numbers)

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

pour out; spill out; spill over (be disgorged)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

stream (something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Rain heavily

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

pelt; pour; rain buckets; rain cats and dogs; stream

Context example:

Put on your rain coat-- it's pouring outside!

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

rain; rain down (precipitate as rain)

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

sheet (come down as if in sheets)

sluice; sluice down (pour as if from a sluice)

Sentence frame:

It is ----ing

Sentence example:

It was streaming all day long

Sense 5

Meaning:

Flow freely and abundantly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

stream; well out

Context example:

Tears streamed down her face

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

course; feed; flow; run (move along, of liquids)

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

spin (stream in jets, of liquids)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

stream (the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression)

stream (a steady flow of a fluid (usually from natural causes))

stream (a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth)

 Context examples 

A device designed to produce a stream of air.

(Blower Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

The streaming umbrella which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told of the fierce weather through which he had come.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Rivers and streams that entered the main river he forded or swam.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveal magnesium and iron gas streaming from the strange world outside our solar system known as WASP-121b.

(Hubble Uncovers a ‘Heavy Metal’ Exoplanet Shaped Like a Football, NASA)

By and by, everything start down-stream again.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

On the fourth day after leaving Manaos we turned into a tributary which at its mouth was little smaller than the main stream.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A device designed to remove certain gases from a gas stream or environment.

(Gas Scavenging Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

A filter designed to remove something from the expiration stream of a ventilator.

(Exhalation Filter Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Streams of electrons made by special equipment can be used for radiation treatment.

(Electron, NCI Dictionary)

The mice with the GNPTAB mutation had long pauses in their stream of vocalizations, similar to those found in people with the same mutation.

(Study in mice identifies type of brain cell involved in stuttering, National Institutes of Health)