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beam

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.

beam

In building construction, a horizontal member spanning an opening and carrying a load. The load may be a wall above the opening (see post-and-beam system) or it may be a floor or roof. Beams may be of wood, steel or other metals, reinforced or prestressed concrete, plastic, or even brick with steel reinforcement. For weight reduction, metal beams are I-shaped, having a thin vertical web and thicker horizontal flanges where greater stress occurs. A joist is any of a series of small parallel beams supporting a floor or roof. See also girder, spandrel.

beam - [Star Trek Classic's "Beam me up, Scotty!"] To transfer softcopy of a file electronically; most often in combining forms such as "beam me a copy" or "beam that over to his site". Compare blast, snarf, BLT.
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Each hero is a pillar of darkness; the sword a beam of fire in his hand.
English Literature For Boys And Girls by Marshall, H.E. View in context
just as the sisters arrived here, a monotonous boy in a Scotch cap put his head round a beam on the left, and said, 'Less noise there, ladies
Little Dorrit by Dickens, Charles View in context
A beam ran across over our heads, but not out of reach of our arms and our pickaxes--a beam fast at each end in the ruined wall, with ceiling and flooring all ripped away, and a great gap in the roof above, open to the sky.
The Woman in White by Collins, Wilkie View in context
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