boom

boom

¹

1. the cry of certain animals, esp the bittern

2. Economics a period of high economic growth characterized by rising wages, profits, and prices, full employment, and high levels of investment, trade, and other economic activity

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boom

²

1. Nautical a spar to which a sail is fastened to control its position relative to the wind

2. a beam or spar pivoting at the foot of the mast of a derrick, controlling the distance from the mast at which a load is lifted or lowered

3. a pole, usually extensible, carrying an overhead microphone and projected over a film or television set

4. a barrier across a waterway, usually consisting of a chain of connected floating logs, to confine free-floating logs, protect a harbour from attack, etc

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Boom

A cantilevered or projecting structural member, such as a beam or spar, which is used to support, hoist, or move a load.

Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture Copyright © 2012, 2002, 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

boom

[büm]

(communications)

A movable mechanical support, usually in a television or motion picture studio, to suspend a microphone within range of the performers but above the field of view of the camera.

(engineering)

A row of joined floating timbers that extend across a river or enclose an area of water for the purpose of keeping saw logs together.

A temporary floating barrier launched on a body of water to contain material, for example, an oil spill.

A structure consisting of joined floating logs placed in a stream to retard the flow.

(mechanical engineering)

A movable steel arm installed on certain types of cranes or derricks to support hoisting lines that must carry loads.

(naval architecture)

A spar attached to a mast or kingpost of a ship carrying cargo-hoisting gear.

A spar upon which the lower side of a sail is bent.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

boom

1. A cantilevered or projecting structural member (such as a beam or spar) which is used to support, hoist, or move a load.

2. The projecting member at the front of a crane or derrick which is used for this purpose.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

boom

i. A rigid telescopic tube steered by aerodynamic controls to mate with the receptacle of receiver aircraft in air-to-air refueling.
ii. Any long and substantially tubular portion of structure linking major parts of an aircraft like the tail to the wing or in helicopters linking the tail rotor to the fuselage.
iii. A sonic boom, or sound, heard whenever an aircraft flying at speeds above or equal to the speed of sound passes in the near vicinity.
iv. A horizontal support for the elements of a directional antenna.

An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Boom

 

(1) Speculative short-term growth of capitalist industry and trade. A boom is characterized by an increase in prices of goods and in the rate of exchange of securities, raging stock market speculation, and so on. In imperialist countries booms are closely linked with the arms race.

(2) In a figurative sense, excessive and unfounded (artificially created) excitement over some measure, event, person, and so forth; a ballyhoo or sensation.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.