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abeam

adv
/əˈbiːm/UK/əˈbim/US

Etymology

From a- (“in the direction of”) + beam (“keel”).

  1. inherited from bēamian
  2. inherited from bemen
  3. derived from *bʰew-✻ — “to grow, swell”
  4. inherited from *baumaz✻ — “tree, beam, balk”
  5. inherited from *baum✻
  6. inherited from bēam — “tree, cross, gallows, column, pillar, wood, beam, splint, post, stock, rafter, piece of wood”
  7. inherited from beem
  8. prefixed as abeam — “a + beam”

Definitions

  1. On the beam

    On the beam; at a right angle to the centerline or keel of a vessel or aircraft; being at a bearing approximately 90° or 270° relative.

    • We were heading S.S.W., and had a steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea.
    • […] waves striking the ship abeam pushed her always south of their new course, and rolled her, and filled her with water so that bailing must be ceaseless […]

  2. Alongside or abreast

    Alongside or abreast; opposite the center of the side of the ship or aircraft.

  3. Alongside.

    • She came abeam the crippled ship.
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. Beaming, shining (especially with reference to a person's face or eyes).

      • 1876, William Davidson, Sermons on the Parables, Cincinnati: Western Tract Society, Sermon 1, p. 41, […] the hearts of the saints [will] be all attention and their faces all abeam for the consolation;
      • […] the waiters fly about abeam with good will and on excellent terms with those they serve […]
      • […] since he refused to be intimidated, stage two of their introduction consisted of Sheba sitting round in attitudes of beleaguered desperation while Seeley, his face abeam with adulation, sat determinedly beside her.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for abeam. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA