off the beam

O o

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [awf, of stressed th ee beem]
- /ɔf, ɒf stressed ði bim/
- /ɒf ðə biːm/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [awf, of stressed th ee beem]
- /ɔf, ɒf stressed ði bim/

Definitions of off the beam words

noun off the beam any of various relatively long pieces of metal, wood, stone, etc., manufactured or shaped especially for use as rigid members or parts of structures or machines. 1
noun off the beam Building Trades. a horizontal bearing member, as a joist or lintel. 1
noun off the beam Engineering. a rigid member or structure supported at each end, subject to bending stresses from a direction perpendicular to its length. 1
noun off the beam Nautical. a horizontal structural member, usually transverse, for supporting the decks and flats of a vessel. the extreme width of a vessel. the shank of an anchor. 1
noun off the beam Aeronautics. the direction perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of an aircraft and outward from the side. 1
noun off the beam the widest part. 1

See all 31 definitions of off the beam

Information block about the term

Origin of off the beam

First appearance:

before 900

One of the 4% oldest English words

before 900; Middle English beem, Old English bēam tree, post, ray of light; cognate with Old Frisian bām, Old Saxon bōm, Dutch boom, Old High German boum (German Baum), Gothic bagms, Old Norse bathmr tree; the identity of the consonant which has assimilated itself to the following m is unclear, as is the original root; perhaps Germanic *bagmaz < *bargmaz < Indo-European *bhorǵh-mos growth; see barrow2

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Off the beam

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Off the beam

off the beam popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 98% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

off the beam usage trend in Literature

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Synonyms for off the beam

adjective off the beam

cockeyed — If you say that an idea or scheme is cockeyed, you mean that you think it is very unlikely to succeed.

Just one Synonym for off the beam