beam – English noun declension

English noun forms of beam

Noun: beam
Singularbeam
Pluralbeams

Sample Sentences

  • And a letter vnto Asaph the keeper of the kings forrest, that he may giue me timber to make beames for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the Citie, and for the house that I shall enter into: And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God vpon me. [1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Nehemiah 2:8:]
  • The brasswork here, how rich it is in beams, / And how, besides, it makes the whole house sound. [1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume (please specify the book number), London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC:]
  • Lucie opened the door: and what do you think there was inside the hill?—a nice clean kitchen with a flagged floor and wooden beams—just like any other farm kitchen. [1905, Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle:]
  • Capt. King, from Demarara, was invaded by the gale on the evening of the 6th, in lat. 21° 51', and his vessel was thrown on her beam ends. He was forced to cut away her main-mast. Lost a man, who was washed overboard.
  • . . .
  • Capt. Mood, on a voyage from Alexandria (Virginia), to St. Mary's (Georgia), was, on the night of the 7th, in the Gulf Stream, to the eastward of Charlston: the wind there was east-north-east, and so hard as to throw his vessel on her beam ends. She lay several hours in this situation. Several of his crew were washed overboard. [1805 Alexander Tilloch. Account of a terrible Hurricane in the West Indies 1804. Philosophical Magazine. Vol. XXI. P. 14]
  • 1808 Richard Hall Gower. On the Theory and Practice of Seamanship.
  • It often happens that by a sudden squall of wind a vessel is thrown over upon her beam ends, without a prospect of recovering her erect while she remains upon the same tack, therefore attempts are made to veer her; but as the rudder lies along the surface of the water it becomes useless, and as the sails are either blown from the yards, or become unmanageable, recourse is had to cutting away the main-mast and mizen-mast, that the ship may veer under the fore-mast:-a most desperate expedient, particularly if the ship is far distant from port!
  • This ship has more beam than that one.
  • Being only 280 ft. long, with a beam of 66 ft, their speed is moderate, and for a long time difficulty was experienced in steering them. [1892, Sydney Marow Eardley-Wilmot, The Development of Navies During the Last Half-Century, Chapter 7:]
  • As the vessel passes a landmark, the landmark is said to be abeam. Once the vessel has passed the landmark, it falls abaft the beam, then it gradually falls astern.
  • The doubtful beam long nods from side to side. [1714, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC, canto V:]
  • a beam of light
  • a beam of energy
  • That light we ſee is burning in my hall: / How farre that little candle throws his beames, / So ſhines a good deed in a naughty world. [c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:]
  • What tho’ the moon—the white moon
  • Shed all the splendour of her noon,
  • Her smile is chilly—and her beam,
  • In that time of dreariness, will seem
  • (So like you gather in your breath)
  • A portrait taken after death. [1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:]
  • A total of 15,000 beams of neutrinos were fired over a period of 3 years from CERN towards Gran Sassoin Italy, 730km (500 miles) away, where they were picked up by giant detectors. [2011 September 22, Nick Collins, “Speed of light 'broken' by scientists”, in Daily Telegraph:]
  • Soon after this be subdued the Pisidians who made head against him, and conquered the Phrygians, at whose chief city Gordium (which is said to have been the seat of the ancient Midas) he saw the famous chariot fastened with cords made of the bark of the Cornel-Tree, and was informed that the inhabitants had a constant tradition, that the empire of the world was reserved for him who should untie the knot. Most are of opinion, that Alexander finding that he could not untie it, because the ends of it were secretly folded up within it, cut it asunder with his sword, so that several ends appeared. But Aristobulus tells us that he very easily undid it, by only pulling the pin out of the beam which fastened the yoke to it, and afterwards drawing out the yoke itself. [a''' 1700, André Dacier, John Dryden, “Life of Alexander”, in Plutarch's Lives, translation of original by Plutarch:]
  • a beam of hope, or of comfort
  • Worthless and lost our offerings seem, / Drops in the ocean of his praise; / But Mercy with her genial beam / Is ripening them to pearly blaze, / To sparkle in His crown above, / Who welcomes here a child's as there an angel's love. [1827, [John Keble], “Third Sunday after Epiphany”, in The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year, volume I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [B]y W. Baxter, for J. Parker; and C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 68:]
  • He could barely remove the beam from his face when he said: "Arsenal is a massive club and you feel the pressure but I try to put in performances. [2023 September 3, Phil McNulty, “Declan Rice: The game-changing midfielder Arsenal need for title challenge”, in BBC Sport:]

Etymology

1. Etymology tree
2. Proto-Germanic *bagmaz?
3. Proto-West Germanic *baum
4. Old English bēam
5. Middle English bem
6. English beam
7. From Middle English bem, beem, from Old English bēam (“tree, cross, gallows, column, pillar, wood, beam, splint, post, stock, rafter, piece of wood”), from Proto-West Germanic *baum, from Proto-Germanic *baumaz (“tree, beam, balk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to grow, swell”).
8. Cognate with North Frisian Boom, buum (“tree”), Saterland Frisian Boom (“tree”), West Frisian beam (“tree”), Cimbrian pome, póom, puam (“tree”), Dutch boom (“tree”), German Low German Boom (“tree”), German Baum (“tree”), Luxembourgish Bam (“tree”), Mòcheno pa'm (“tree”), Vilamovian baojm (“tree”), Yiddish בוים (boym, “tree”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish bom (“beam”), Icelandic baðmur (“tree”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌲𐌼𐍃 (bagms, “tree”), Albanian bimë (“a plant”). Doublet of boom.
9. The original English meaning of beam ("tree") is preserved in some compound words such as quickbeam.
10. The verb is from Middle English bemen, from Old English bēamian (“to shine, to cast forth rays or beams of light”), from the noun. See: Dutch Nouns 'boom', German Nouns 'Baum', Icelandic Nouns 'baðmur', Gothic Nouns '𐌱𐌰𐌲𐌼𐍃', Old English Nouns 'bēamian'.

Verbs referencing "beam"

Danish Nouns bom, German Nouns Baum, English Nouns binge, German Nouns Beamer, French Nouns bôme, Polish Nouns telebim, Bulgarian Nouns ботур.