abeam

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə.ˈbiːm/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• (US) IPA^(key): /ə.ˈbim/
• Rhymes: -iːm

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

abeam (comparative more abeam, superlative most abeam)

1. (nautical, aircraft) On the beam; at a right angle to the centerline or keel of a vessel [1] or aircraft; being at a bearing approximately 090 Degrees or 270 Degrees relative.[2] [Mid 19^th century.][3]
   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Chapter 10”, in Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook), page 83:

     We were heading S.S.W., and had a steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea.

   • 1968, Ursula K. LeGuin, chapter 2, in A Wizard of Earthsea‎, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, published 2012, page 36:

     […] 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. (nautical, aircraft) Alongside or abreast; opposite the center of the side of the ship or aircraft. [Mid 19^th century.][3]

• athwartships

abeam (comparative more abeam, superlative most abeam)

1. (nautical, aircraft) Alongside or abreast; opposite the center of the side of the ship or aircraft. [Mid 19^th century.][3]
   • 1904, Joseph Conrad, chapter 8, in Nostromo‎, New York: Harper, page 311:

     The sound shifted its place markedly, but without coming nearer. It even grew a little more distant right abeam of the lighter, and then ceased again.

   • 2005, William Thomas Generous, Sweet Pea at War: A History of USS Portland‎, →ISBN, page 178:

     The attack on the abeam ship, Louisville, killed Commander Cruiser Division Four […]

   The island was directly abeam of us.

abeam

1. (nautical) Alongside. [Mid 19^th century.][3]

   She came abeam the crippled ship.

a- +‎ beam (“to emit beams of light”)

abeam (not comparable)

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;

   • 1906, Miriam Michelson, chapter 9, in A Yellow Journalist,‎, New York: D. Appleton, page 199:

     […] the waiters fly about abeam with good will and on excellent terms with those they serve […]

   • 1970, Doreen Tovey, chapter 6, in The New Boy‎, Chicago: Summersdale, published 2006, page 55:

     […] 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.

   • 2011, Christopher Buckley, “Christopher Hitchens”, in But Enough About You: Essays‎, New York: Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 227:

     When we met for another lunch […] he was all abeam with pride as he handed me a newly minted paperback reissue of Wodehouse […]

• Ambae, ameba

abeam

1. first-person singular present active subjunctive of abeō