adv. [ Pref. a- + beam. ] (Naut.) On the beam, that is, on a line which forms a right angle with the ship's keel; opposite to the center of the ship's side. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of the principal horizontal timbers of a building or ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

The beams of a vessel are strong pieces of timber stretching across from side to side to support the decks. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The width of a vessel; as, one vessel is said to have more beam than another. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The bar of a balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended. [ 1913 Webster ]

The doubtful beam long nods from side to side. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The principal stem or horn of a stag or other deer, which bears the antlers, or branches. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The pole of a carriage. [ Poetic ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. The straight part or shank of an anchor. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. A ray or collection of parallel rays emitted from the sun or other luminous body; as, a beam of light, or of heat. [ 1913 Webster ]

How far that little candle throws his beams! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. (Fig.): A ray; a gleam; as, a beam of comfort. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mercy with her genial beam. Keble. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. One of the long feathers in the wing of a hawk; -- called also beam feather. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To emit beams of light. [ 1913 Webster ]

He beamed, the daystar of the rising age. Trumbull. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A small European flycatcher (Muscicapa grisola), so called because it often nests on a beam in a building. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Furnished with beams, as the head of a stag. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tost his beamed frontlet to the sky. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Beamy; radiant. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a beaming manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being beamy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Emitting beams; radiant. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a beaming manner; radiantly. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Not having a beam. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not emitting light. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A small beam of light. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ AS. beám a tree. See Beam. ] (Bot.) A tree (Pyrus aria) related to the apple. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Emitting beams of light; radiant; shining. “Beamy gold.” Tickell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Resembling a beam in size and weight; massy. [ 1913 Webster ]

His double-biting ax, and beamy spear. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Having horns, or antlers. [ 1913 Webster ]

Beamy stags in toils engage. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mach.) The front transverse beam of a locomotive. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Physics) a particle accelerator in which two separate beams of particles (usually of opposite charge) are circulated in opposite directions and directed so as to collide head on; -- called also colliding-beam accelerator and collider. This technique allows the production of collisions of higher energy than would be possible with a single beam produced by the same device.
Syn. -- particle collider; colliding-beam accelerator; collider. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. 1. (Arch.) A girder. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) A beam laid across the bitts, to which the cable is fastened when riding at anchor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make brilliant with beams. [ R. ] G. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A glance of the eye. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a radiant glance of the eye; as, he pretended profundity by eye-beamings at people. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The breast beam of a loom. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Gothic Arch.) A member of one description of roof truss, called hammer-beam truss, which is so framed as not to have a tiebeam at the top of the wall. Each principal has two hammer-beams, which occupy the situation, and to some extent serve the purpose, of a tiebeam. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A tree of the genus Carpinus, of compact, horny texture; hornbeam. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Beam. ] (Bot.) A tree of the genus Carpinus (Carpinus Americana), having a smooth gray bark and a ridged trunk, the wood being white and very hard. It is common along the banks of streams in the United States, and is also called ironwood. The English hornbeam is Carpinus Betulus. The American is called also blue beech and water beech. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hop hornbeam. (Bot.) See under Hop. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Shining in. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A beam of light from a laser. [ PJC ]

n. A ray of light from the moon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A.S. cwicbeám. ] See Quicken tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The lever or beam of a balance; the lever of a platform scale, to which the poise for weighing is applied. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A weighing apparatus with a sliding weight, resembling a steelyard. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The part of the plow to which the share is attached. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. sunnebeam. ] A beam or ray of the sun. “Evening sunbeams.” Keble. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thither came Uriel, gliding through the even
On a sunbeam. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) A beam acting as a tie, as at the bottom of a pair of principal rafters, to prevent them from thrusting out the wall. See Illust. of Timbers, under Roof. Gwilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A kind of large steelyard for weighing merchandise; -- also called weighmaster's beam. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The common beam tree of England (Pyrus Aria); -- so called from the white, woolly under surface of the leaves. [ 1913 Webster ]