/stiːm/, /stiːm/
OriginFrom Middle English steem, stem, from Old English stēam (“steam, hot exhalation, hot breath; that which emits vapour; blood”), from Proto-Germanic *staumaz (“steam, vapour, breath”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to whirl, waft, stink, shake; steam, haze, smoke”). Cognate with Scots stem, steam (“steam”), West Frisian steam (“steam, vapour”), Dutch stoom (“steam, vapour”), Low German stom (“steam”), Swedish dialectal stimma (“steam, fog”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”).
- uncountable, usuallyThe hot gaseous form of water, formed when water changes from the liquid phase to the gas phase (at or above its boiling point temperature).
- uncountable, usuallyMist, fog.
- uncountable, usuallyExhaled breath into cold air below the dew point of the exhalation.
- uncountable, usuallyPressurized water vapour used for heating, cooking, or to provide mechanical energy.
- uncountable, usuallyThe act of cooking by steaming.
“Give the carrots a ten-minute steam.”
- figuratively, uncountable, usuallyInternal energy for progress or motive power.
“After three weeks in bed he was finally able to sit up under his own steam.”
“Them that puts the most steam into it will get a finnuf slipped to 'em.”
- figuratively, uncountable, usuallyPent-up anger.
“Dad had to go outside to blow off some steam.”
- uncountable, usuallyA steam-powered vehicle, referring to their use.
“Among the most modern of all the Pacific stock in Great Britain is the stud of "Merchant Navy" and "West Country" Pacifics on the Southern Region, and the rebuilding which is now being carried out, pr”
“Steam also takes charge of South Eastern (former P.L.M.) trains from Paris to Marseilles and the Riviera from Lyons onwards, and of Western Region trains from Le Mans onwards, as also between Paris an”
- uncountable, usuallyTravel by means of a steam-powered vehicle.
- obsolete, uncountable, usuallyAny exhalation.
“a steam of rich, distilled perfumes” — Comus
- uncountable, usuallyFencing without the use of any electric equipment.
- abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountableInitialism of serial time-encoded amplified microscopy.
- abbreviation, alt-of, uncountableAbbreviation of science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, a grouping of several fields of education.
- transitiveTo cook with steam.
“The best way to cook artichokes is to steam them.”
- figuratively, intransitiveTo be cooked with steam.
“The artichokes are steaming in the pot.”
“I'm steaming in this coat.”
- transitiveTo expose to the action of steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing, or preparing.
- transitiveTo raise steam, e.g. in a steam locomotive.
“"We will give 198 a full exam. Then steam her, and operate her for the rest of the season.”
- intransitiveTo produce or vent steam.
“See, ſee, my Brother's Ghoſt hangs hovering there, / O're his vvarm Blood, that ſteems into the Air, / Revenge, Revenge it cries.”
“I found that the Chapelon steamed almost too freely, because on a strange locomotive and road one usually tends to overfire a little through a natural lack of confidence.”
- intransitiveTo rise in vapour; to issue, or pass off, as vapour.
“Our breath steamed in the cold winter air.”
“[T]he diſſolved Amber vvas plainly diſcernable ſvvimming like a thin film upon the ſurface of the Liquor, vvhence little by little it ſteamed avvay into the air.”
- figuratively, intransitiveTo become angry; to fume; to be incensed.
- figuratively, transitiveTo make angry.
“It really steams me to see her treat him like that.”
- transitiveTo cover with condensed water vapor.
“With all the heavy breathing going on the windows were quickly steamed in the car.”
“A strong sirocco was blowing the spray from the waves as far as the little café, whose glass doors were shut. The café reeked of brewing sage and human beings whose breath steamed the windows because ”
- intransitiveTo travel by means of steam power.
“We steamed around the Mediterranean.”
“The ship steamed out of the harbour.”
““Yes, Tennington, of course,” ventured Clayton; “it must be a bully idea if you had it, but what the deuce is it? Goin’ to steam to China via the south pole?””
- figuratively, literallyTo move with great or excessive purposefulness.
“If he heard of anyone picking the fruit he would steam off and lecture them.”
“The No on 35 drive garnered the support of Black, Asian, and progressive church communities, and steamed to victory with 58 percent of the vote on Nov. 6.”
“That was the hard work largely done as the Ivorian waited for Malouda to steam into the box before releasing a simple crossed pass which the Frenchman side-footed home with aplomb.”
- obsoleteTo exhale.
“like inward fire that outward smoke had steemd”
- not-comparableOld-fashioned; from before the digital age.
“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"”
“Unlike the Web, old-fashioned steam television must be viewed in sequence in order to pick out those rare bits of useful information.”
“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.”
Formssteams(plural) · steams(present, singular, third-person) · steaming(participle, present) · steamed(participle, past) · steamed(past)