Search the Dictionary

That part of any member of a building which rests upon its supports; as, a lintel or beam may have four inches of bearing upon the wall.

he thickest and strongest planks in her sides, more generally called wales. They have the beams, knees, and foothooks bolted to them. Also, the frames or ribs that form the ship's body from the keel to the top of the sides; as, the midship bend.

That binds; obligatory. Binding beam (Arch.), the main timber in double flooring. -- Binding joist (Arch.), the secondary timber in double-framed flooring.

A working beam.

The crossbeam forming the bearing piece of the body of a railway car; the central and principal cross beam of a car truck.

A long spar or beam, projecting from the mast of a derrick, from the outer end of which the body to be lifted is suspended.

f which is resisted by a tie forming a chord of the arch. -- Bowstring girder, an arched beam strengthened by a tie connecting its two ends. -- Bowstring hemp (Bot.), the tenacious fiber of the Sanseviera Zeylanica, growing in India and Africa, from which bowstrings are made. Balfour.

To furnish with braces; to support; to prop; as, to brace a beam in a building.

instrument of torture. Holinshed. Air brake. See Air brake, in the Vocabulary. -- Brake beam or Brake bar, the beam that connects the brake blocks of opposite wheels. -- Brake block. (a) The part of a brake holding the brake shoe. (b) A brake shoe. -- Brake shoe or Brake rubber, the part of a brake against which th…

The beam which supports the spindle socket of the runner in a grinding mill. Knight.

A beam that goes across a building.

A projecting beam or boom; as: (a) One projecting from each bow of a vessel, to haul the fore tack to, called a tack bumpkin. (b) Onr from each quarter, for the main-brace blocks, and called brace bumpkin. (c) A small outrigger over the stern of a boat, to extend the mizzen. [Written also boomkin.]

A pole or beam used in Scottish games for tossing as a trial of strength.

An upward concavity in the under side of a beam, girder, or lintel; also, a slight upward concavity in a straight arch. See Hogback. Camber arch (Arch.), an arch whose intrados, though apparently straight, has a slightly concave curve upward. -- Camber beam (Arch.), a beam whose under side has a concave curve upward.…

linen of cotton threads, and used to furnish light. How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world. Shak.

A projecting beam, truss, or bridge unsupported at the outer end; one which overhangs. Cantalever bridge, a bridge in which the principle of the cantalever is applied. It is usually a trussed bridge, composed of two portions reaching out from opposite banks, and supported near the middle of their own length on piers wh…

A short timber running lengthwise of a ship, from one transverse desk beam to another; also, one of the cross timbers that strengthen a hath; -- usually in pl.

lection. Catoptric light, a light in which the rays are concentrated by reflectors into a beam visible at a distance.

s and carry them clear of the bulwarks. Channel bar, Channel iron (Arch.), an iron bar or beam having a section resembling a flat gutter or channel. -- Channel bill (Zoöl.), a very large Australian cucko (Scythrops Novæhollandiæ. -- Channel goose. (Zoöl.) See Gannet.

A thick plank on the inner part of a ship's side, used to sustuan the ends of beams.