beam

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the broad side of a ship

   they sighted land on the port beam

2. 2
   verb

   to smile radiantly

   I beamed after winning the lottery.

3. 3
   verb

   to broadcast over the airwaves, as in radio or television

   We beamed the program all over the world.

4. 4
   verb

   to express with a cheerful face or smile

   I beamed with approval.

5. 5
   verb

   to experience a feeling of well-being or happiness, as from good health or an intense emotion

   I was beaming with joy.

6. 6
   verb

   to have a complexion with a strong bright color, such as red or pink

   You're really beaming.

7. 7
   verb

   to emit light

   The flashlight beamed with great intensity.

8. 8
   noun

   Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.

   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.

Etymology

From Middle English 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”). 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, “…