BE-ALL
Be"-all`, n.
Defn: The whole; all that is to be. [Poetic] Shak.
BEAM Beam, n. Etym: [AS. beám beam, post, tree, ray of light; akin to OFries. bam tree, OS. b, D. boom, OHG. boum, poum, G. baum, Icel. ba, Goth. bahms and Gr. a growth, to become, to be. Cf. L. radius staff, rod, spoke of a wheel, beam or ray, and G. strahl arrow, spoke of a wheel, ray or beam, flash of lightning. Be; cf. Boom a spar.]
1. Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
2. One of the principal horizontal timbers of a building or ship. The beams of a vessel are strong pieces of timber stretching across from side to side to support the decks. Totten.
3. The width of a vessel; as, one vessel is said to have more beam than another.
4. The bar of a balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended. The doubtful beam long nods from side to side. Pope.
5. The principal stem or horn of a stag or other deer, which bears the antlers, or branches.
6. The pole of a carriage. [Poetic] Dryden.
7. A cylinder of wood, making part of a loom, on which weavers wind the warp before weaving; also, the cylinder on which the cloth is rolled, as it is woven; one being called the fore beam, the other the back beam.