BEAM Synonyms: 65 Similar and Opposite Words

beam 1 of 2

noun

ˈbēm

Definition of beam

as in ray

a narrow sharply defined line of light radiating from an object we'll need a flashlight that casts a broader beam in order to really see anything

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beam

2 of 2

verb

as in to shine

to emit rays of light a lighthouse has beamed from this site since the 1790s

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to grin

to express an emotion (as amusement) by curving the lips upward my father beamed when I showed him my new car

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of beam

Noun

Patients can receive small permanent tattoos to help clinicians align radiation beams with the correct part of the body. — Mike McRae 09, New Atlas, 9 Oct. 2026 Crisp, white linens and white curtains are a striking counterpoint, with texture arriving in unfinished, stone support beams. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2026

Verb

Three of those satellites also beamed back imagery of Starship’s heat shield, which must remain intact to ensure the spacecraft doesn’t break apart and burn up during reentry. — Lee Billings, Scientific American, 28 Sep. 2026 To kneel at the altar of the market, to pray to the gods of the ultra-wealthy—these are not categorical values bestowed upon humanity, tenets beamed down to us from the cosmos. — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for beam

Recent Examples of Synonyms for beam

Noun

Since then, researchers have won Nobel Prizes for discoveries using neutrinos created with particle accelerators, in cosmic-ray air showers in the Earth’s atmosphere and in the core of the Sun.

— Doug Cowen, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 2026
There’s the brutal heat; the skin destroying UV-rays of that miserable, scorching, eye-blinding sun; the constant allergy/sinusitis issues that NEVER let up; the smothering humidity.

— R. Eric Thomas, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of ray

Verb

Both Ruto, behind the wheel, and Chivayo are seen laughing, with Chivayo's wife grinning from the back seat.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
In photos obtained by the Daily Mail, the singer could be seen smiling in the back seat of an SUV while her soccer player boyfriend of two years grinned from the front seat.

— Meg Walters, InStyle, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of grin

Verb

The musicians were smiling, the spectators tapped and clapped, and that magical sense of timelessness was real, spanning multiple generations.

— Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026
Machchhar, with one arm in a cast and medical dressings on his head, appears awake and smiling.

— Tom Winter, NBC news, 3 Oct. 2026