Beam , v. i. To emit beams of light.
He
beamed, the daystar of the rising age.
Trumbull.
Beam , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Beamed (&?;); p. pr. &
vb. n. Beaming.]
To send forth; to emit; -- followed ordinarily by forth; as, to beam forth light.
Beam (bēm),
n. [AS. beám beam, post, tree, ray of light; akin to OFries. bām tree, OS.
bōm, D. boom, OHG. boum,
poum, G. baum, Icel. baðmr, Goth. bagms and Gr. fy^ma a growth, fy^nai to become, to
be. Cf. L. radius staff, rod, spoke of
a wheel, beam or ray, and G. strahl arrow, spoke of a wheel, ray or beam, flash of lightning. √97. See
Be; cf. Boom a spar.]
1.
Any large piece of timber or iron long in
proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
2. One of
the principal horizontal timbers of a building or
ship.
The beams of a vessel are
strong pieces of timber stretching across from side to side
to support the decks.
Totten.
3. The width of a vessel; as, one vessel is
said to have more beam than another.
4. The bar of a balance, from the ends of which the
scales are suspended.
The doubtful beam long nods from side to
side.
Pope.
5. The principal stem or horn
of a stag or other deer, which bears the antlers, or branches.
6. The pole of a carriage. [Poetic]
Dryden.
7. A cylinder of wood, making part of a loom, on which weavers wind the warp before weaving; also, the cylinder on which the cloth is rolled, as it is woven; one being called the fore beam, the other the
back beam.
8. The straight part or shank of an anchor.
9. The main part of
a plow, to which the handles and colter are secured, and to the end of which are
attached the oxen or horses that draw it.
10. (Steam Engine) A heavy iron
lever having an oscillating motion on a central axis, one end of which is connected with the piston rod from which it
receives motion, and the other with the crank of the
wheel shaft; -- called also working beam or walking beam.
11. A ray
or collection of parallel rays emitted from the sun
or other luminous body; as, a beam
of light, or
of heat.
How far that little candle throws his
beams!
Shak.
12.
Fig.: A ray; a gleam;
as, a beam of comfort.
Mercy with her genial beam.
Keble.
13. One of
the long feathers in the wing of a hawk; --
called also beam feather.
Abaft the beam (Naut.), in an arc of the horizon between a line that crosses the ship at right angles, or in the direction of her beams, and that point of
the compass toward which her stern is
directed. -- Beam center (Mach.), the fulcrum or pin on which the working beam of an engine
vibrates. -- Beam compass, an instrument consisting of a rod or beam, having sliding sockets that carry steel or pencil points; -- used for drawing or describing large circles.
-- Beam engine, a steam engine having a working beam to transmit power, in distinction from one which has its
piston rod attached directly to the crank of
the wheel shaft. -- Before the beam (Naut.), in an arc of the horizon included between a line that crosses the ship at right angles and that point of the
compass toward which the ship steers. -- On the beam, in a line with the beams, or at right angles with the keel. -- On the weather beam, on the side of a ship which faces the wind. -- To be on her beam ends, to incline, as a
vessel, so much on one side that her
beams approach a vertical position.
Hear it pronounced