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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.

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beam

1. any rigid member or structure that is loaded transversely

2. the breadth of a ship or boat taken at its widest part, usually amidships

3. one of the two cylindrical rollers on a loom, one of which holds the warp threads before weaving, the other the finished work

4. the main stem of a deer's antler from which the smaller branches grow

5. a narrow unidirectional flow of electromagnetic radiation or particles

6. the horizontal centrally pivoted bar in a balance

7. off (the) beam not following a radio beam to maintain a course

8. on the beam

a. following a radio beam to maintain a course

b. Nautical opposite the beam of a vessel; abeam

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Beam

A structural member that is fabricated from metal, reinforced or prestressed concrete, wood, fiber-reinforced plastic, or other construction materials and that resists loads perpendicular to its longitudinal axis. Its length is usually much larger than its depth or width. Usually beams are of symmetric cross section; they are designed to bend in this plane of symmetry, which is also the plane of their greatest strength and stiffness. This plane coincides with the plane of the applied loads. Beams are used as primary load-carrying members in bridges and buildings.

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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.