BEAD


Meaning of BEAD in English

n. & v.

--n.

1. a a small usu. rounded and perforated piece of glass, stone, etc., for threading with others to make jewellery, or sewing on to fabric, etc. b (in pl.) a string of beads; a rosary.

2 a drop of liquid; a bubble.

3 a small knob in the foresight of a gun.

4 the inner edge of a pneumatic tyre that grips the rim of the wheel.

5 Archit. a a moulding like a series of beads. b a narrow moulding with a semicircular cross-section.

--v.

1. tr. furnish or decorate with beads.

2 tr. string together.

3 intr. form or grow into beads.

Phrases and idioms:

draw a bead on take aim at. tell one's beads use the beads of a rosary etc. in counting prayers.

Derivatives:

beaded adj.

Etymology: orig. 'prayer' (for which the earliest use of beads arose): OE gebed f. Gmc, rel. to BID

Oxford English vocab.      Оксфордский английский словарь.