I. ˈstēm noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English stem, steme, from Old English stēam, stēm, stīem; akin to Dutch stoom steam
1.
a. : a vapor arising from some heated substance : exhalation
a steam of incense
b. archaic : stale air — often used in plural
every modest flower that needs the pure air and will not grow in steams — James Martineau
2.
a. : the invisible vapor into which water is converted when heated to the boiling point : water in the state of vapor — compare dry steam , water vapor , wet steam
b. : the mist formed by the condensation on cooling of water vapor : visible vapor
3.
a. : water vapor kept under pressure so as to supply energy for heating, cooking, or mechanical work ; also : the power so generated
full steam ahead
b. : driving force : energy , power
had got here on his own steam , won a lot of scholarships — A.L.Rowse
hit him a peach of a right … but the steam was gone — A.J.Liebling
c. : emotional tension
after six months of hard study, he felt the need to let off a little steam
though not a demonstrative bird, the king penguin occasionally must let off steam — A.N.T.Rankin
4.
a. : steamship
travel by steam
b. : travel by or a trip in a steamship
the sea voyage — a night and a day's steam — J.P.O'Donnell
c. : the occupation of handling ships under steam
a blue-water man who had come into steam and the home trade to get an easier life — Thomas Wood †1950
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
1. : to rise in vapor : issue or pass off as vapor
the heat steams out of the forest — Robert Payne
2.
a. : to give off steam or vapor
the town steamed in a listless heat — Vincent McHugh
the cows … stood in the yards all day, ruminating and steaming — Adrian Bell
b. : reek
at that time of year the boardwalk steams with sophistication — New York Times
3.
a. : to move or travel by the agency of steam
reaching the little riverside landing … after a day and a half of steaming southward — Tom Marvel
saw the train steaming in — Edith Sitwell
b. : to move with energy or force as if by the agency of steam
when he steams into second base, say, on a long double — Time
the racket smacked … and the white ball came steaming across at me — R.P.Warren
4. : to generate steam
the boiler steams well
5. : to be angry : boil
was still steaming over the insult he had received
transitive verb
1. : to give out as fumes : exhale
2. : to apply steam to
women often like to steam the skin by covering it with hot towels — Morris Fishbein
as
a. : to cook by direct exposure to steam (as in a steamer) or in a vessel surrounded by steam (as in a double boiler)
b. : to expose (cloth) to the action of steam (as in dyeing or shrinking)
3. : to convey by steamship
4. : to move by the action of steam
steaming a carrier through the Strait of Gibraltar — Walter Karig
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- steam open