beam

Definitions

• Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
• One of the principal horizontal timbers of a building; one of the transverse members of a ship's frame on which the decks are laid — supported at the sides by knees in wooden ships and by stringers in steel ones.
• (nautical) The maximum width of a vessel (note that a vessel with a beam of 15 foot can also be said to be 15 foot abeam)
• The crossbar of a mechanical balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended.
• The principal stem of the antler of a deer.
• (literary) The pole of a carriage or chariot.
• (textiles) A cylinder of wood, making part of a loom, on which weavers wind the warp before weaving and the cylinder on which the cloth is rolled, as it is woven.
• The straight part or shank of an anchor.
• The central bar 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.
• In steam engines, 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.
• A ray or collection of approximately parallel rays emitted from the sun or other luminous body.
• (figuratively) A ray; a gleam.
• One of the long feathers in the wing of a hawk.
• (music) A horizontal bar which connects the stems of two or more notes to group them and to indicate metric value.
• (railway) An elevated rectangular dirt pile used to cheaply build an elevated portion of a railway.