Bēam1, n.
n. [A-S. beam, beam, post, tree, ray of light, Fries. bām, O. S. bom, bum, Goth. bugms, Icel. badmr, D. boom, O. H. Ger. boum, poum, N. H. Ger. baum, tree, Dan. & Sw. bom, bar. Cf. Lat. radius, staff, rod, spoke of a wheel, beam or ray, and Ger. strahl, arrow, spoke of a wheel, ray or beam, flash of lightning.]
Sense 1. Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
Sense 2. One of the principal horizontal timbers used in buildings, ships, &c.
The beams of a vessel are strong pieces of timber stretching across from side to side to support the decks. Totten.
Sense 3. The width of a vessel. Brande.
Sense 4. The part of a balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended. “The doubtful beam long nods from side to side.” Pope.
Sense 5. The horn of a stag, which bears the antlers, royals, and top. Buchanan.
Sense 6. The pole of a carriage, which runs between the horses. Dryden.
Sense 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.
Sense 8. The straight part or shank of an anchor.
Sense 9. The main part of a plow, to which the handles, colter, &c., are secured, and to the end of which are attached the oxen or horses that draw it.
Sense 10. (Steam-engines.) A heavy iron lever having a reciprocating 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.
Sense 11. A collection of parallel rays emitted from the sun or other luminous body. “The beams of the sinking sun.” W. Scott.
Sense 12. (Fig.) That which flows forth, as a beam from the sun. “Beams of majesty.” Tillotson.
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.—Before the beam, in an arc of the horizon included between the same line and that point of the compass toward which the ship steers.—Beam compass, an instrument consisting of a rod or beam, having sliding sockets that carry steel or pencil points; used for describing large circles.—Beam ends. A vessel is said to be on her beam ends when she inclines so much on one side that her beams approach a vertical position.—Beam center (Steam-engines), the fulcrum or pin on which the working-beam vibrates.—On the beam, on a line with the beams, or at right angles with the keel.