Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Steam
Steam
(stēm)
, Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Steamed
(stēmd)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Steaming
.] 1.
To emit steam or vapor.
My brother’s ghost hangs hovering there,
O'er his warm blood, that
O'er his warm blood, that
steams
into the air. Dryden.
Let the crude humors dance
In heated brass,
In heated brass,
steaming
with fire intense. J. Philips.
2.
To rise in vapor; to issue, or pass off, as vapor.
The dissolved amber . . .
steamed
away into the air. Boyle.
3.
To move or travel by the agency of steam.
The vessel
steamed
out of port. N. P. Willis.
4.
To generate steam;
as, the boiler
. steams
wellSteam
(stēm)
, Verb.
T.
1.
To exhale.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
2.
To expose to the action of steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing, or preparing;
as, to
steam
wood; to steam
cloth; to steam
food, etc.Webster 1828 Edition
Steam
STEAM
,Noun.
1.
The vapor of water; or the elastic, aeriform fluid generated by heating water to the boiling point. When produced under the common atmospheric pressure, its elasticity is equivalent to the pressure, its elasticity is equivalent to the pressure of the atmosphere, and it is called low steam; but when heated in a confined state, its elastic force is rapidly augmented, and it is then called high steam. On the application of cold, steam instantly returns to the state of water, and thus forms a sudden vacuum. From this property, and from the facility with which an elastic force is generated by means of steam, this constitutes a mechanical agent at once the most powerful and the most manageable, as is seen in the vast and multiplied uses of the steam engine. Steam is invisible, and is to be distinguished from the cloud or mist which it forms in the air, that being water in a minute state of division, resulting from the condensation of steam.2.
In popular use, the mist formed by condensed vapor.STEAM
,Verb.
I.
1.
To rise or pass off in vapor by means of heat; to fume.Let the crude humors dance in heated brass, steaming with fire intense.
2.
To send off visible vapor.Ye mists that rise from steaming lake.
3.
To pass off in visible vapor.The dissolved amber--steamed away into the air.
STEAM
,Verb.
T.
1.
To exhale; to evaporate. [Not much used.]2.
To expose to steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing or preparing; as, to steam cloth; to steam potatoes instead of boiling the; to steam food for cattle.Definition 2024
steam
steam
See also: STEAM
English
Steam rising from the street grates. (1, 2)
Noun
steam (uncountable)
- The vapor formed when water changes from liquid phase to gas phase.
- Pressurized water vapour used for heating, cooking, or to provide mechanical energy.
- (figuratively) Internal energy for motive power.
- After three weeks in bed he was finally able to sit up under his own steam.
- (figuratively) Pent-up anger.
- Dad had to go outside to blow off some steam.
- A steam-powered vehicle.
- Travel by means of a steam-powered vehicle.
- (obsolete) Any exhalation.
- Milton
- a steam of rich, distilled perfumes
- Milton
Synonyms
- (a steam-powered vehicle): steamer
Derived terms
terms derived from steam (noun)
|
Translations
water vapor
|
|
water vapor used for heating or as source of kinetic energy
energy
Verb
steam (third-person singular simple present steams, present participle steaming, simple past and past participle steamed)
- (cooking, transitive) To cook with steam.
- (transitive) To expose to the action of steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing, or preparing.
- to steam wood or cloth
- (intransitive) To produce or vent steam.
- Dryden
- My brother's ghost hangs hovering there, / O'er his warm blood, that steams into the air.
- Dryden
- (intransitive) To rise in vapour; to issue, or pass off, as vapour.
- Boyle
- The dissolved amber […] steamed away into the air.
- Boyle
- (intransitive, figuratively) To become angry; to fume; to be incensed.
- (transitive, figuratively) To make angry.
- It really steams me to see her treat him like that.
- (intransitive) To be covered with condensed water vapor.
- With all the heavy breathing going on the windows were quickly steamed in the car.
- (intransitive) To travel by means of steam power.
- We steamed around the Mediterranean.
- N. P. Willis
- The vessel steamed out of port.
- (figuratively or literally) To move with great or excessive purposefulness.
- If he heard of anyone picking the fruit he would steam off and lecture them.
- (obsolete) To exhale.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
Synonyms
- See also Wikisaurus:cook
Derived terms
Translations
cooking: to cook with steam
to produce or vent steam
to become angry
to be covered with condensed water vapor
Adjective
steam (not comparable)
- Old-fashioned; from before the digital age.
- 1989, “Despite the era's technological marvels, 'wireless' is still magic”, in Toronto Star:
- Tom Earle, a CBC radio veteran now compiling audio archives in Ottawa, used to refer to the medium in which he worked as "steam radio"
- 2000 January 10, Bill Pannifer, “Sore eyes”, in The Independent:
- Unlike the Web, old-fashioned steam television must be viewed in sequence in order to pick out those rare bits of useful information.
- 2002 September 5, Alex Kirby, “Summit diary: Aftermath”, in BBC News:
- In the old days of steam journalism, after cleft sticks had been phased out but before the advent of e-mail, there used to be a fairly sure-fire way of getting your story to the news desk.
- 2004 April 2, “'I'ma player. It's time to move on'”, in Telegraph.co.uk:
- Fox has been at Capital since 1988, where he lurks a little in the shadow of Chris Tarrant, the radio station's monolithic star who has helmed the plum breakfast show slot since the steam radio dawn of time.
-
Anagrams
Old English
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *staumaz, compare also Dutch stoom.
Noun
stēam m
- steam (water vapor)