steamn.
/stiːm/, U.S. /stim/ 1. figurative.1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love i. iii. sig. C I do neither see, nor feele, nor taste, nor sauor, the least steame, or fume of a reason, that should inuite this foolish fastidious Nymph so peeuishly to abandon me. View more context for this quotation
a. A vapour or fume given out by a substance when heated or burned.In this and following senses the word was frequently used in the plural down to c1800.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [noun] > fumes or vapour > a vapour
steamc1000
vapour1382
exhalation1393
fumosity1477
suffumigation1567
fluxion1603
aspiration1635
halitus1661
suffumige1666
emanation1832
the world > matter > gas > [noun] > fumes or vapour > types of fume or vapour > fumes from heated or burnt substance
breathOE
steamc1000
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 284 Man pintreow bærne to gledum..and onfo ðam steme.
1660 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mechanicall xi. 80 The stifling steams of the Coals.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) ii. ix. 119 The steam of newly whited Walls.
1670 J. Beale in Philos. Trans. 1669 (Royal Soc.) 4 1113 The steams of the Mercury in some hot Summer.
1705 F. Fuller Medicina Gymnastica 170 The Steam of their inflammable Parts is of Use.
1794 J. MacPhail Treat. Culture Cucumber 92 The heat of the cucumber bed began to rise; a little air was given to it to let the steam pass off.
1845 G. Mills Treat. Cucumber (ed. 2) 29 The steam which arose from the well~prepared manure of the bed.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 77 And all the hall was dim with steam of flesh.
b. spec. An odorous exhalation or fume.
ΚΠ
OE Panther 45 Æfter þære stefne stenc ut cymeð of þam wongstede, wynsumra steam, swettra ond swiþra swæcca gehwylcum.
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. K3v Thy breath is like the steeme of apple pies.
1608 T. Middleton Your Fiue Gallants sig. H2 A fellow of seuerall sents and Steames.
1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse v. vii. 2 in Wks. II Fough ! what a steeme of brimstone Is here?
1644 C. Jessop Angel Church of Ephesus 27 I will not cause the Reader to stop his nose at those putrid steemes which would arise if that puddle were stirred.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 442 His Offring soon propitious Fire from Heav'n Consum'd with nimble glance, and grateful steame . View more context for this quotation
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 225 [Tobacco] Thy thirst-creating steams.
1827 T. Hamilton Youth & Manhood Cyril Thornton I. xii. 178 The savoury steams of roast and stew..pervaded the mansion.
1835 N. P. Willis Pencillings I. 61 The steams of sulphur, as we approached the summit, were all but intolerable.
a. A vapour or exhalation produced as an ‘excrement’ of the body, e.g. hot breath, perspiration, the infectious effluvium of a disease. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretions > [noun] > emanations
steamc1000
c1000 Ælfric Homilies I. 86 Him stod stincende steam of ðam muðe.
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 2526 Þe steme stode oute of hys mouþ brennand.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1818 Oft aboute ilk oþer þrew, þe stem stod vp, so þey blew.
c1400 Song Roland 836 Kene knyghtis cry and crossen helmes,..out flow the stemes.
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Bij Panting he lies, and breatheth in her face. She feedeth on the steame, as on a pray. View more context for this quotation
1670 J. Covel Diary in J. T. Bent Early Voy. Levant (1893) 116 These [insects] never stir out of their holes and lurking-places till the steam and perspiration of your bodyes invite them.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 140 The Effluvia or Infectious Steams of Bodies infected.
1734 J. Swift Strephon & Cloe in Beautiful Young Nymph 8 No Humours gross, or frowzy Steams,..Could from her taintless Body flow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [noun] > flatulence > vapour
steamc1000
fumosityc1386
fumec1400
vapours1422
crudity1541
gas1759
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 226 Fleo þa mettas þa þe him dylsta & forbærnunga & stiem on Innan wyrcen.
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge v. iii. sig. I3v Pieros lips reake steame of wine.
1605 Trag. End Sir J. Fites (1860) 12 She avoyded further perill of death, which hee in his steame of wine, had bin likely to have offered unto her.
c. Close and hot air arising from persons crowded together. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [noun] > fumes or vapour > types of fume or vapour > arising from people crowded together
steam1609
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xxix. ii. 352 When as neither the common goales..nor privat mens houses could now hold the number of them that were committed to ward, as being thronged and thrust close together with a hot steame among them.
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 225 Some Sweet Odours, suddenly comming forth, without any drops falling, are, in such a Company, as there is Steame and Heate, Things of great Pleasure; & Refreshment.
1793 T. Beddoes Observ. Nature & Cure Calculus 141 The steams abounding in [a crowded] room..may be injurious to consumptive persons.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam lxxxvii. 129 The dust and din and steam of town. View more context for this quotation
ΚΠ
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iii. v. sig. F4v Looke how I smoake in blood, reeking the steame Of foming vengeance.
1672 J. Owen Disc. Evangelical Love i. 19 For the most part, they [the outcries on account of schism] are nothing but the steam of Interest and Party.
1677 R. Gilpin Dæmonol. Sacra i. vii. 54 Sometimes he reaps a large Harvest where he had sowen little, and from one Temptation, not only wounds the soul of him that committed it, but endevours to diffuse the Venom and Poysonous Steam of it to the Infection of others.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > [noun] > ray or beam
beamc885
rowc1225
stringc1275
steamc1300
light beama1398
shafta1400
rayc1400
strakec1400
rade?a1563
gleed1566
radiation1570
shine1581
rayon1591
stralla1618
radius1620
rule1637
irradiation1643
track1693
emanation1700
spoke1849
spearc1850
slant1856
sword1866
secondary1921
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > fire or flame > [noun] > flame or blaze > a flame
steamc1300
flamea1340
open flame1861
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 591 Of hise mouth it stod a stem, Als it were a sunnebem.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 473/2 Steem, or lowe of fyre, flamma.
4. An exhalation or watery vapour rising from the earth or sea.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [noun]
misteOE
roke1292
vapourc1386
nyle1481
stove1513
fumec1550
rouka1586
misting1604
steam1612
dampa1616
petty-fog1641
smoke1648
brume1694
muga1728
ure1818
nebule1869
nebula1894
moist1903
M1904
clag1940
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion vii. 103 It is your foggy steame The powerfull Sunne exhales.
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 209 The Steams and Damps of Mines are detrimental to Health.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. v. 183 The equability and duration of the tropical heat contribute to impregnate the air with a multitude of steams and vapours from the soil and water.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 371 The assemblage of the rays darting upon the water..will cause it to rise in a light thin steam above the surface.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Guinevere in Idylls of King 256 She saw, Wet with the mists and smitten by the lights, The Dragon of the great Pendragonship Blaze, making all the night a steam of fire.
1906 Baroness Orczy Son of People (1908) xvi. 175 [The sun's] noonday rays drew a warm steam from the wet earth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > physical chemistry > gaseous phase > [noun] > gas
steam1662
gas1669
1662 R. Boyle Def. Doctr. Spring of Air iii. xviii. 81 Glass..is impervious to the subtilest steams that are.
1670 J. Beale in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 5 1154 The changes of Heat and Cold, with other unknown Steames.
1684 R. Waller tr. Ess. Nat. Exper. Acad. del Cimento 18 The Liquor..will fall down..like Dew separated from that fine steame of Air contained in the froth.
a1704 J. Locke Elem. Nat. Philos. vi, in Coll. Several Pieces (1720) 198 Besides the springy particles of pure air, the Atmosphere is made up of several steams or minute particles of several sorts, rising from the earth and the waters, and floating in the air.
6.
a. The vapour into which water is converted when heated. In popular language, applied to the visible vapour which floats in the air in the form of a white cloud or mist, and which consists of minute globules or vesicles of liquid water suspended in a mixture of gaseous water and air. (Also sometimes applied to the vapour arising from other liquids when heated.) In modern scientific and technical language, applied only to water in the form of an invisible gas.The invisible ‘steam’, in the modern scientific sense, is, when its temperature is lowered, converted into the white vapour called ‘steam’ in popular language, and this under continued cooling, becomes ‘water’ in the liquid form. dry steam, in Steam-engine working, steam containing no suspended vesicles of water: opposed to wet steam.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [noun] > moist vapour
misteOE
reekeOE
humoura1382
steamc1440
the world > matter > gas > [noun] > fumes or vapour > water in the form of > steam
smoke1398
steamc1440
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 473/2 Steem [Winch. MS. Steme] of hothe lycure, vapor.
1631 B. Jonson New Inne ii. vi. 81 Pru... we shall..send you downe to the dresser, and the dishes... Commit you to the steem! Lad. Or els condemn you to the bottles.
a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1683) 113 The steam or vapour of artificial and natural baths.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xvii. 480 They cover the mouth of the Pot with leaves, to keep in the steam, while it boils.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 403. ¶3 A Knot of Theorists, who sat in the inner Room, within the Steams of the Coffee Pot.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xviii. 85 The adulteress was suffocated by the steam of a bath, which, for that purpose, had been heated to an extraordinary degree.
1785 Priestley in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 75 305 Having transmitted steam, or the vapour of water, through a copper tube.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 505 The steam of alcohol at 174° is equal to that of water at 212°.
1839 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 2 287 7 lbs. of coal are required to convert 1 cubic foot of water at 40° into atmospheric steam.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess Prol. 4 A dozen angry models jetted steam.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 39 The steam, or watery vapour, when pure and uncondensed, is..transparent.
1884 C. E. Dutton in 4th Ann. Rep. U.S. Geol. Surv. 1882–3 110 Condensed steam floating away in the form of white vapor.
1894 Times 15 Aug. 12/2 A boiler which supplies wet steam is a bad boiler, because wet steam is prejudicial to the efficiency of the engine.
1895 Model Steam Eng. 51 The purpose of the steam-dome is to collect the steam in as dry a condition as possible.
b. The visible vesicles produced by the condensation of watery vapour, as drops forming on a surface, e.g. a mirror or window-pane.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [noun] > condensed moisture > of or from a vapour
steam1615
coagulation1669
devaporation1787
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 88 When a Vessell of boyling water is couered, though the couer be hot, yet the vapour of the water turneth into a steame vppon it, and will stand in drops.
1699 tr. H. de Blancourt Art of Glass 350 You must keep these [steel] Mirrours from the Moistness of the Air, and Steams.
7.
a. The vapour of boiling water used, by confinement in specially contrived engines, for the generation of mechanical power. Hence, the mechanical power thus generated.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > [noun] > steam
steam1699
1699 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 21 228 [Savery's ‘fire-engine’.] Two Cocks which convey the Steam by turns, to the Vessels D.
1765 Watt in Muirhead Invent. Watt (1854) I. 3 Mine ought to raise water to 44 feet with the same quantity of steam that theirs does to 32.
1788 J. Rumsey (title) A short Treatise on Steam, whereby is clearly shewn..that steam may be applied to propel Boats or Vessels of any burthen.
1825 W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1826) I. 1535 The Times..of Tuesday, November the 29th, 1814, was the first newspaper printed by steam.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxxv. 354 Do steam, tide, wind, and horses, all abate their speed?
a1862 H. T. Buckle Misc. Wks. (1872) I. 250 By the application of steam, we have diminished space.
b. figurative. Energy, ‘go’, driving power, and the like.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [noun]
greennesseOE
lustinessc1325
forcea1375
vigourc1386
virrc1575
vigour1602
nerve1605
vivacity1649
vis1650
actuosity1660
amenity1661
vogue1674
energy1783
smeddum1790
dash1796
throughput1808
feck1811
go1825
steam1826
jism1842
vim1843
animalism1848
fizz1856
jasm1860
verve1863
snap1865
sawdusta1873
élan1880
stingo1885
energeticism1891
sprawl1894
zip1899
pep1908
jazz1912
zoom1926
toe1963
zap1968
stank1997
1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey I. ii. ii. 94 Has not your Lordship treasure? There is your moral steam which can work the world.
1875 ‘R. H. Blake-Humfrey’ Eton Boating Bk. (ed. 2) 60 The Etonians had not steam enough. At Hammersmith, Westminster was two lengths ahead.
1898 Daily News 24 Nov. 7/3 Corbett now appeared a trifle weary..and was lacking in steam.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 23 Oct. 9/2 All the steam has gone out of American Railroad shares.
c. by steam, (to travel) by steamer. under steam, worked by steam (as opposed to under sail).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [phrase] > by ship > by steamer
by steam1829
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > mechanically propelled vessels > [phrase] > worked by steam
under steam1874
1829 W. Scott Jrnl. 18 June (1946) 84 Tomorrow I expect Sophia and her family by Steam.
1839 N. Wiseman in W. Ward Life Cardinal Wiseman (1897) I. ix. 313 I shall travel..by the mail direct to Marseilles,..and so by steam to Cività Vecchia.
1874 F. G. D. Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. iii. 49 In the following Rules, every Steam Ship which is under Sail and not under steam, is to be considered a Sailing Ship.
d. In phrases descriptive of the working of a steam-engine, esp. of a locomotive; often used figuratively; e.g. (at) full (half, etc.) steam; with full or all one's steam on; to have (all, much, etc.) steam on; to get up steam, put on steam; to blow off steam, shut off steam, turn off steam; under steam, with steam up, in steam, with the engine working or ready to start working; under one's own steam; like steam (Australian), furiously; to let off steam: frequently figurative, to relieve one's pent-up energy by vigorous activity; to give vent to one's feelings, esp. harmlessly; to run out of steam: see to run out of —— 1c at run v. Phrasal verbs 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > [adjective] > working or ready to start working
in steam1768
under steam1860
with steam up1870
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > operate steam engine [verb (intransitive)] > turn off or let off steam
shut off steam1824
to let off steam1831
turn off steam1878
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > operate steam engine [verb (intransitive)]
to get up steam1832
put on steam1878
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > manifestation of emotion > manifest itself [verb (intransitive)] > give vent to feelings
acangc1225
to run out1719
to let off steam1857
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > [noun] > power of
indicated (horse-) power1875
(at) full (half, etc.) steam1878
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > acting vigorously or energetically [phrase] > with great vigour or energy
with (also in) mood and maineOE
vigour13..
with or by (all one's) might and mainc1330
with (one's) forcec1380
like anything1665
hammer and tongs1708
like stour1787
(in) double tides1788
like blazes1818
like winking1827
with a will1827
like winky1830
like all possessed1833
in a big way1840
like (or worse than) sin1840
full swing1843
like a Trojan1846
like one o'clock1847
like sixty1848
like forty1852
like wildfire1857
like old boots1865
like blue murder1867
like steam1905
like stink1929
like one thing1938
like a demon1945
up a storm1953
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > [phrase] > with no aid from others
under one's own steam1912
1768 Watt in Muirhead Invent. Watt (1854) I. 18 I am now getting an apparatus ready for setting it [the engine] wholly in steam as before.
1824 ‘R. Stuart’ Descr. Hist. Steam Engine 132 The motion of the piston was equalized by shutting off the steam sooner or later from the cylinder.
1831 Rep. Select Comm. Steam Carriages 20 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 324) VIII. 203 Are you frequently obliged to let off steam?
1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster III. iii. 39 I have..a way of going a-head, by getting up the steam..—and the fuel is brandy.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xlvii. 512 Get on a little faster; put a little more steam on, Ma'am, pray.
1837 F. Marryat Snarleyyow I. xi. 144 The widow..sat..fuming and blowing off her steam.
1844 Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) I. 301 Get up your steam, if this weather lasts, and have a ramble in Wales.
1851 Blackburn Standard 5 Nov. 2/5 The steamer's officers ordering full steam ahead.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. ii. 261 Now jumping the old iron-bound tables,..then joining in some chorus of merry voices; in fact, blowing off his steam, as we should now call it.
1860 Mercantile Marine Mag. 7 216 Orders were given..to let the ship go under easy steam.
1863 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Feb. 249/1 This is a free country, and a few eloquent or blustering Radicals serve to ‘let off the steam’ of their class.
1869 H. James Let. 16 Apr. in J. Strouse Alice James (1980) viii. 138 I feel an irresistible need to let off steam periodically & to confide to a sympathetic ear the impressions which the week has generated in my soul.
1870 Remin. Amer. 203 Their steam fire-engines..are always kept in readiness with steam up and the horses harnessed.
1873 Routledge's Young Gentleman's Mag. June 392/2 The Forward was under steam, ready to seize the first opening to make her exit.
1878 W. H. G. Kingston Three Admirals xviii. 416 Full steam was put on.
1878 W. H. G. Kingston Three Admirals xviii. 417 The engineer having thoughtfully turned off the steam to prevent the boilers from exploding.
1881 M. Reynolds Engine-driving Life 112 Of course his engine is in steam. All is done for him.
1883 G. M. Fenn Middy & Ensign xxxix. 237 Every effort being made by the firemen to get up steam.
1887 F. Francis Saddle & Mocassin 107 ‘And he [the bull] came for you?’ ‘When he'd got up steam he did.’
1893 Times 14 Aug. 8/6 Captain Hicks immediately ordered full steam astern, and at the same moment the helm to be put a starboard.
1894 J. D. Astley Fifty Years of my Life I. 82 I naturally went to grass through having too much steam on to be able to pull up in time.
1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 71 Half-steam ahead by guess and lead, for the sun is mostly veiled.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 147 A result of some previous shutting off of nervous steam.
1905 H. Lawson Coll. Verse (1968) II. 4 We was draftin' 'em out for the homeward track and sharin' 'em round like steam.
1912 Conrad in English Rev. XI. 311 We are not allowed to bring them in under their own steam.
1916 H. J. Laski in Holmes-Laski Lett. (1953) I. 25 I intend to write you a weekly letter to Washington—for I must let off steam somewhere.
1919 M. K. Bradby Psycho-anal. 70 Commonsense says that it is better..‘to let off steam’ than to ‘eat your heart out’.
1920 Times 9 Apr. 10/1 Mr Chamberlain yesterday received the order to go full steam ahead with his budget.
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Oct. 737/3 She..wrote sedate and quite readable novels to the prescribed pattern—but let off steam in stormy poems privately printed.
1949 J. Symons Bland Beginning 142 ‘Would you be kind enough to..see Miss Cleverly home.’ ‘That's not necessary... I can move under my own steam.’
1976 J. I. M. Stewart Young Pattullo iii. 72 It's just a dining club letting off steam.
1979 B. Hardy World owes Me Nothing 102 I hammered at the door like steam and over he came and opened it.
2012 Foreign Affairs 91 iii. 129 As Western governments have scaled back their support for renewable power, China has been pushing full steam ahead.
e. transferred. Cheap wine laced with methylated spirits; methylated spirits as an intoxicant. Australian and New Zealand slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > wine > drinks made with wine > [noun] > other wine drinks
rambooze1656
barley wine1728
hock-cup1851
speedball1926
spritz1937
steam1941
spritzer1953
Sangria1961
vin blanc cassis1964
kir1966
1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 71 Steam, cheap wine, esp. laced with methylated spirits.
1963 A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 59 To my regret, I never got a chance to sample either ‘plonk’, or ‘steam’!
1966 J. K. Baxter Pig Island Lett. 36 I'd give old Rose the go-by For a bottle of steam tonight.
8.
a. Short for steam-coal n. at Compounds 7.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > coal or types of coal > [noun]
coal1253
sea-coal1253
pit-coal1483
cannel1541
earth coala1552
horse coal1552
Newcastle coal1552
stone-coal1585
cannel coal1587
parrot1594
burn-coal1597
lithanthrax1612
stony coal1617
Welsh coala1618
land-coala1661
foot coal1665
peacock coal1686
rough coal1686
white coal1686
heathen-coalc1697
coal-stone1708
round1708
stone-coal1708
bench-coal1712
slipper coal1712
black coal1713
culm1742
rock coal1750
board coal1761
Bovey coal1761
house coal1784
mineral coal1785
splint1789
splint coal1789
jet coal1794
anthracite1797
wood-coal1799
blind-coal1802
black diamond1803
silk-coal1803
glance-coal1805
lignite1808
Welsh stone-coal1808
soft1811
spout coals1821
spouter1821
Wallsend1821
brown coal1833
paper coal1833
steam-coal1850
peat-coal1851
cherry-coal1853
household1854
sinter coal1854
oil coal1856
raker1857
Kilkenny coal1861
Pottery coal1867
silkstone1867
block coal1871
admiralty1877
rattlejack1877
bunker1883
fusain1883
smitham1883
bunker coal1885
triping1886
trolley coal1890
kibble1891
sea-borne1892
jet1893
steam1897
sack coal1898
Welsh1898
navigation coal1900
Coalite1906
clarain1919
durain1919
vitrain1919
single1921
kolm1930
hards1956
1897 Daily News 25 Jan. 9/3 Best qualities steam are now up to 11s 3d per ton.
1903 Times 1 Dec. 3/5 Steams remain dull and generally slow of sale, owing to the poor trade prevailing among steam users generally.
b. Short for steam radio n. at Compounds 7.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > broadcasting > radio broadcasting > [noun]
radio1907
wireless1922
the spoken word1940
sound1949
steam radio1957
steam1959
1959 C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 112 I heard one of your arias on the steam, last evening.
1960 Spectator 15 July 103 John Arlott over on steam is still the best of the commentators.
1973 G. Talbot Ten Seconds from Now (1974) v. 83 Frank Gillard..crowned his Corporation career by becoming Managing Director of Radio, our ‘Head of Steam’.
9. [ < steam v.] A trip by steamer. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [noun] > a voyage > short voyage or trip > in specific type of craft
pull1793
row1832
steam1854
1854 C. Kingsley Lett. (1877) I. 419 Had a charming steam across the Firth of Forth.
1905 Daily Chron. 16 Sept. 4/4 He saw before him a few hours' steam to Caen.
10. [ < steam v.] A dish cooked by steaming. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > food by way of preparation > [noun] > cooked food > steamed food
steam1900
1900 Soc. Life Brit. Army 98 Apart from soup, the cooking arrangements will only allow of Tommy being given his choice between a bake and a steam. A steam resembles what we have been taught to call Irish stew.
Compounds
C1. simple attributive = of or pertaining to steam; consisting of steam.
ΚΠ
1831 Rep. Select Comm. Steam Carriages 25 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 324) VIII. 203 The comparative expense between Horse and Steam Power for drawing Carriages on common roads.
1838 T. Tredgold Steam Engine 416 The force of the draught produced by the steam-blast is so great that cinders are drawn through the tubes.
1869 E. A. Parkes Man. Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 145 The moving agent here is the force of the steam-jet.
1879 ‘G. Eliot’ Theophrastus Such ii. 49 The white steam-pennon flies along it.
1881 J. W. Judd Volcanoes 23 The roaring of the steam-jets may be heard for many miles around.
1897 A. Geikie Anc. Volcanoes Brit. I. 16 The steam-cavities of lavas.
C2. With reference to heating, cooking, or washing by steam, and in the names of implements and apparatus used in these processes, as steam-bakery, steam-bath, steam-box, steam-chamber, steam-chest, steam-coil, steam-kiln, steam-kitchen, steam-laundry, steam-oven, steam-pan, steam-pipe, †steam-pot, steam radiator, steam-table, steam-tank, steam-tube, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing oneself or body > [noun] > bathing > a bath > hot air or steam bath
stew1390
stovec1485
stufe1541
stow1614
furo1615
Turkish bath1644
estuary1657
steam-bath1725
Russian bath1770
stufa1832
sweat-bath1877
sauna1881
shvitz1937
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > heater using steam
steam radiator1725
steam heatera1884
pressure heater1893
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Gooseberry-wine When it is thoroughly cold it is put into a Steam-Pot.
1794 J. B. S. Morritt Let. 24 June (1914) ii. 47 After a violent steam bath, they would run out and roll in the snow.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 772/2 Steam-Kitchen.
1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. iv. 133 The figure represents an arrangement in which a saucepan is converted into a temporary steam chamber.
1828 R. Duppa Trav. Italy 142 The steam-baths of Dædalus..consist of several sudorific grottos.
1832 Boston (Lincs.) Herald 20 Nov. 4/3 A new patent steam-oven for baking bread.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxxi. 421 We have passed wooden steam-tubes through the deck-house to carry off the vapors of our cooking-stove.
1857 W. A. Miller Elements Chem. III. 672 Heat, furnished by steam-pipes.
1862 Internat. Exhib.: Illustr. Catal. Industr. Dept. II. xxxi. 7/2 Steam Table for dishing up.
1862 Internat. Exhib.: Illustr. Catal. Industr. Dept. II. xxxi. 8/1 Steam Kettles of copper or block tin, for boiling meat, vegetables, puddings, &c.
1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 427 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV The food is cooked in a large steam-box.
1879 Bradstreet's 22 Nov. 2/1 In close rooms close stoves are better than steam radiators.
1897 W. D. Howells Landlord Lion's Head 142 The reeking steam-table, with its great tanks of soup and vegetables.
1903 G. Ade In Babel 29 For ten years it had braced itself against the onsweeping rush of big machine-shops and steam-bakeries.
1962 A. Lurie Love & Friendship xii. 228 That..asthma kind of like a steam radiator.
1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds xi. 251 Hot nights in Gilly were bearable compared to this steam bath.
C3. In the names of the various contrivances for containing, conveying, or regulating the steam in a steam-engine, as steam-box, steam-case, steam-chamber, steam-chest, steam-cock, †steam-course, steam-cylinder, steam-dome, steam-gauge, steam-pipe, steam-port, steam-stack, steam trap, steam-valve, steam-way, etc.
ΚΠ
1765 Watt in Muirhead Invent. Watt (1854) I. 4 The moment the steam-cock was opened, the piston descended with rapidity.
1769 Watt in Muirhead Invent. Watt (1854) I. 53 To-day I stopped the neck of the steam-pipe where it enters the cylinder.
1769 Watt in Muirhead Invent. Watt (1854) I. 73 The size of the steam-valve is six square inches.
1797 J. Curr Coal Viewer 41 A steam chest [in a fire-engine] upon a good construction, (a) being the steam valve.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 181 C, the steam-gauge.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 207 Fans..opening and closing the steam-course.
1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 139/2 The jacket of an 80-inch steam cylinder.
1839 R. S. Robinson Naut. Steam Engine Explained 51 Sliding the valve up or down will permit this steam to enter the cylinder, either by the upper or lower steam port.
1873 G. E. Webster Steam Eng. & Steam i. 61 The Steam Dome serves the purpose of drying the steam.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Steam-way, a passage leading from the steam-port of a valve to the cylinder.
1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Steam-trap, a self-acting device for the discharge of condensed water from steam-engines or steam-pipes.
1935 J. Joyce Let. 28 Aug. (1957) 381 I would also like a pleasure yacht with a steamstack.
1955 Times 12 July 1/6 Before ordering any steam trap ask for its expectation of life. It is no use saving on steam equipment to pay it out later servicing traps.
C4. In the names of implements, machines, processes, etc. operated by steam or by a steam-engine, as steam-crane, steam dredge, steam dredger, steam drill, steam-dryer, steam elevator, †steam-gun, steam-hammer, steam-mill, steam-milling, steam-plough, steam-ploughing, steam press, steam-pump, steam shovel (hence steam-shovelful), steam-thresher, steam-threshing, steam trowel, steam-trumpet, steam-whim, steam-winch, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printing machine or press > [noun] > steam press
steam press1801
society > occupation and work > equipment > mills > [noun] > other mills
martinet?c1475
watermill1580
overfall mill1615
breast mill1659
undershot1705
merchant mill1759
pounding mill1785
floating mill1796
steam-mill1801
pecker1802
chip mill1819
society > occupation and work > equipment > earth-moving and excavating equipment > [noun] > excavator
steam shovel1801
steam trowel1801
excavator1843
earthmover1871
navvy1877
steam-navvy1881
backhoe1928
Traxcavator1940
back-acter1957
society > occupation and work > equipment > earth-moving and excavating equipment > [noun] > dredging equipment
dredge1471
clam-shell1508
drag1611
steam dredge1801
dredging-machine1830
hedgehog1838
bag and spoon1840
hydrophore1842
dredger1863
gold dredge1881
gold dredger1897
suction dredge1901
bucket dredge1907
cutter-dredge1913
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sound of horn > [noun] > horn or hooter
post-horna1652
steam-trumpet1801
blast-horn1844
fish-horn1856
hooter1878
klaxon1910
beep-beep1929
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > other means of conveyance > [noun] > lift or hoist
steam elevator1801
hoist1835
lift1851
elevator1853
tube-lift1915
stairlift1977
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels with other specific uses > [noun] > dredger-hopper
steam dredger1801
steam hopper1812
hopper-dredge1896
suction dredger1911
society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > drill > power drills
steam drill1801
power drill1867
machine drill1869
society > occupation and work > equipment > digging or lifting tools > [noun] > shovel > other shovels
shod-shovel1465
scoop1487
peel?a1500
paring-shovel1531
cole-rake1575
rabble1664
van1664
steam shovel1801
ballast wagon1838
wirra1896
power shovel1902
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for altering dimensions > [noun] > press > other presses
rolling press1785
packing press1796
steam press1801
bench press1852
platen press1854
hot press1943
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > mechanically propelled vessels > [noun] > propelled by steam engine > other steam vessels
steam dredger1801
steam barge1812
steam hopper1812
steam-launch1812
steam schooner1812
steam-yacht1812
steam-tug1835
pleasure steamer1839
tug-steamer1861
ditcher1877
alligator1884
turnabout1885
tank-steamer1889
whaleback1891
whalebacker1891
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > [adjective]
steam1801
power-driven1835
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing oneself or body > [noun] > bathing > place for bathing > bath-house > hot bathroom or sweating-room
stovec1485
sudatory1615
laconicum1696
laconic1742
sweating-room1744
caldarium1753
sudatorium1757
steam1801
sudarium1852
sauna1881
sweat-lodge1887
sweat-box1974
1801 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 91 160 It..has now four fire-engines and two steam-whims on it.
1804 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. Mar. 161 (title) Description of a new Steam Digester for Philosophical Researches.
1812 Ann. Reg., Chron. 79 They entered into a solemn obligation to destroy steam-looms, [etc.].
1815 D. Drake Nat. & Statist. View Cincinnati iii. 137 The most capacious..building in this place is the Steam Mill.
1824 Reg. Arts & Sci. 2 105 Perkins's ‘Steam Gun’.
1843 Nasmyth in Civil Engineer & Archit. Jrnl. 6 41/2 With a view to relieve all these defects, I have contrived my direct action steam hammer.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xi. 131 A greater number..than the steam-gun can discharge balls in a minute.
1847 Mechanics' Mag. 30 Jan. 98 Mr. Osborn's patent system of steam ploughing.
1857 D. E. E. Braman Information about Texas iii. 79 There are three steam-mills in operation, sawing lumber, and grinding wheat and corn.
1861 Mitchell's Maritime Reg. 1651/3 The launch of the Ancona, a very fine steam dredger, of 300 tons, recently took place at Southampton.
1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies i. 35 The Word of God..cannot be..sown on any wayside by help either of steam plough or steam press.
1873 H. James Let. 25 Apr. (1974) I. 373 It was once a goodly old palace and though pitifully inconvenient as a hotel, is charminger to stay in than if it had a steam elevator.
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 747/2 In 1796, Watt made a steam dredger for deepening Sunderland Harbor.
1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 464/1 The construction of large river steam dredges is now carried on by many engineering firms.
1879 R. J. Burdette Hawk-Eyes 25 The depot policeman looked in to say to him that if he was tired out, he would send in a section hand or the steam shovel to give him a spell.
1880 Harper's Mag. Aug. 344/2 The grist from it [sc. the tide mill] is said to be of a better quality than from the steam-mills, as being less heated in the process.
1884 Leisure Hour Sept. 533/2 With one blow from a steam-riveter..they are securely fixed.
1889 ‘F. Anstey’ Pariah vi. i They're putting up swings and a steam-circus and tents.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles III. xlviii. 148 I have told the farmer that he has no right to employ women at steam-threshing.
1891 Argus (Melbourne) 7 Nov. 13/4 Occasionally..a British India liner rouses the echoes with the hoarse call of its steam siren.
1892 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. Suppl. Steam Blower, a pipe and cock on a locomotive, employed to create a draught before the engine starts.
1893 K. D. Wiggin Polly Oliver (1894) xvi. 173 Who ever feels like telling a precious secret over a steam-heater?
1898 ‘H. S. Merriman’ Roden's Corner v. 45 Presently the jerk and clink of the steam-winch told that the anchor was being got home.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 763/2 The principal types of mechanical excavators are the steam navvy, or steam shovel, as it is commonly called in the United States.
1904 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers 33 965 Steam-dryers are fitted in the flues of two of the boilers.
1906 T. Roosevelt Let. 10 Jan. in Proc. Congr. Constr. Patriotism 20 Nov. (1919) 182 There the huge steam-shovels are hard at it; scooping huge masses of rock and gravel and dirt.
1906 W. De Morgan Joseph Vance xli. 367 He told how she and he were awakened by the sudden stoppage of the screw, followed by the roar of the steam-trumpet.
1907 J. H. Patterson Man-eaters of Tsavo xvii. 187 My heart was thumping like a steam hammer.
1925 L. R. Harris in Messenger VII. 387/1 A so-called ‘steam-drill’..guaranteed to drill a hole faster than any ten men could drill one in the old way with sledge hammer and steel.
1928 Observer 15 Apr. 5/4 The people in the restaurants shovel food into their mouths as the steam-trowel takes up its load of earth.
1937 Discovery Dec. 362/2 All advances in technique such as the steam press and the linotype, had been developed by the news-printer and later used by the book-printer.
1966 T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 iii. 65 A wildcat transistor outfit that..was underselling even the Japanese and hauling in loot by the steamshovelful.
1972 J. Mosedale Football vii. 95 After a trip through the steam presses, caps and uniforms were either too large or too small.
1978 J. Irving World according to Garp iv. 79 His mouth still reminded Garp of a steam shovel's power.
C5. With reference to locomotion by steam-power, and in names of vehicles and vessels propelled by steam, as steam barge, steam bus, steam-ferry, steam ferry-boat, steam-flat, steam-frigate, steam hopper (hopper n.1 6), steam-launch, steam lawn-mower, steam locomotion, steam locomotive, steam lorry, steam-navigation, steam-navy, steam-omnibus, steam-packet, steam railway, steam-ram, steam schooner, steam-train, steam-tram, steam-trawler, steam-trawling, steam-whaler, steam-yacht, etc. See also steam-car n., steam-carriage n., steam-tug n. at Compounds 7, etc., and the main-words steamboat n., etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > [noun] > by steam locomotion
steam locomotion1812
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > lawn-mower
steam lawn-mower1812
grass cutter1834
grass mower1855
lawn-mower1875
grass trimmer1876
lawn-cutter1897
motor mower1907
power mower1913
lawn edger1960
Strimmer1978
society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > a railway > for steam-trains
steam railway1812
steam-road1837
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > locomotive > steam locomotive
steam locomotive1812
steam-engine1815
steamer1837
Puffing Billy1848
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels with other specific uses > [noun] > dredger-hopper
steam dredger1801
steam hopper1812
hopper-dredge1896
suction dredger1911
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > mechanically propelled vessels > [noun] > propelled by steam engine > steam ferry
steam-ferry1812
steam ferry-boat1812
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > mechanically propelled vessels > [noun] > propelled by steam engine > other steam vessels
steam dredger1801
steam barge1812
steam hopper1812
steam-launch1812
steam schooner1812
steam-yacht1812
steam-tug1835
pleasure steamer1839
tug-steamer1861
ditcher1877
alligator1884
turnabout1885
tank-steamer1889
whaleback1891
whalebacker1891
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel for transporting people or goods > [noun] > ferry > types of
toni1582
horse-boat1591
bac1676
ferry bridge1696
rope-ferry1755
pont1776
ferry flat1805
steam-ferry1812
steam ferry-boat1812
night boat1839
bar-boat1857
train ferry-boat1867
car ferry1884
grind1889
swinging-bridge1892
train ferry1900
night ferry1948
SeaCat1954
walla-walla1957
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > pleasure vessel > [noun] > yacht > types of yacht
steam-yacht1812
skimmer1844
schooner-yacht1876
cruiser1879
keel1883
skimming-dish1884
cutter-yacht1885
bulb-keel1893
keel-boat1893
forty1894
half-rater1894
forty-tonner1895
one-designer1897
raceabout1897
forty-footer1902
sonder1907
star1911
tonnage-cheater1912
scow1929
tabloid1930
Yngling1969
maxi yacht1974
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > steam-powered > steam lorry
steam lorry1812
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > public service vehicle > [noun] > omnibus > steam-driven
steam bus1812
steam-omnibus1812
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > flat-bottomed boat > [noun] > barge > other types of barge
coal barge1720
budgerow1727
water1727
brick barge1738
tent-barge1796
water barge1798
passage-barge1804
steam barge1812
schooner barge1819
tongkang1834
bumbarge1839
Tom Pudding1880
grain-barge1902
butty1923
support barge1967
reel barge1972
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > [adjective] > propelled by steam
steam1812
superheated1864
1812 in Mechanics' Mag. (1847) 46 21/1 Steam passage boat, The Comet, Between Glasgow, Greenock, and Helensburgh.
1814 Weekly Reg. (Baltimore) 128/2 The steam frigate Fulton the First was launched at New York October 31.
1819 (title) The Thanet Itinerary, or Steam-Yacht Companion.
1819 N.Y. Evening Post 4 Jan. 2/5 Steam sch[oone]r Ramapo, Reid, New Orleans.
1821 J. W. Croker Diary 29 Aug. Sailed in the steampacket, the wind quite against us.
1831 Jrnl. House of Commons 6 Sept. 86 827/2 The frequent calamities by Steam Navigation.
1834 J. B. Purcell Jrnl. 21 Mar. in Catholic Hist. Rev. (1919) V. 253 Mr. Mtgomery an hour & ½ in crossing the River in Steam-ferry boat.
1842 J. McDonogh Papers (1898) 65 The steam ferry which runs from one side of the river to the other lands a short distance below my house.
1849 E. C. Agnew Rome & Abbey v. 47 They entered the steam-train for Bruges.
1849 Jrnl. House of Commons 23 Feb. 104 87/2 The practicability of providing, by means of the Commercial Steam Marine of the Country, a reserve Steam Navy, available for the National Defence when required.
1860 Ann. Reg. 202 Our government were urged to adopt the scheme of steam-rams.
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour III. 186/1 He was..steward on board the Royal Hydaspes, a steam screw she is.
1866 Mitchell's Maritime Reg. 18 Aug. 1033/3 Messrs. C. and W. Earle launched from their yard a steam barge [named Lion] the first of its class built in Hull.
1869 Bradshaw's Railway Man. 21 34 A steam ferry across the river Severn.
1872 F. Trevithick Life Richard Trevithick II. xxi. 207 Cast-iron wheels were ordered with a view to steam locomotion in the Cordilleras.
1872 F. Trevithick Life Richard Trevithick II. xvii. 26 The high-pressure steam-puffer..moved.. towards the broken mass..and..changing its powers from steam-crane to steam-locomotive, conveyed it to the port.
1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 464/2 The steam hoppers employed to receive and remove the dredgings carry about 500 tons of excavations.
1878 C. Schreiber Jrnl. 30 June (1911) II. 155 The Embassy steam launch met us.
1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 250/2 Steam trawling.
1884 J. Hatton in Harper's Mag. Feb. 344/2 The steam-launch is the snob of the Thames.
1890 G. Meredith Let. 14 Apr. (1970) II. 997 I am promised a steam-yacht to take me up at Oban.
1892 Speaker 3 Sept. 289/2 The high road, with its shrieking steam-tram.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 25 Oct. 6/3 The steamer Germanic was run into last night in the Mersey by a steam hopper.
1902 H. C. Moore Omnibuses & Cabs i. iv. 38 The first real steam omnibuses, the ‘Era’ and ‘Autopsy’, were invented by Walter Hancock, of Stratford, and placed on the London roads in 1833.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 845/1 This was the pioneer of the steam-trade along the western coast of South America.
1915 Naut. Gaz. 31 Mar. 4/1 The Panama Canal has brought us the steam schooner and other Pacific curiosities.
1916 Law Rep.: King's Bench Div. 1 148 The defendants, who were brewers, used a steam lorry weighing five tons for the purpose of delivering beer from their premises to various public-houses served by them.
1923 Blackwood's Mag. Nov. 681/1 In the harbour..there were lying odd craft... The one romance of life for these steam-hoppers..had been quenched.
1928 J. Mason Before Mast in Sailing Ships 174 He was picked up by a steam barge which happened to be passing.
1933 V. Sommerfield London's Buses 5 (caption) Three of Hancock's Steam Buses, 1832 to 1836.
1946 G. Foreman Last Trek of Indians 116 A steam ferryboat was in service.
1946 Noble & Junner Vital to Life of Nation vi. 88 Sumner..began experimenting in the design of a steam wagon in 1889, a year or two later producing a steam lawn mower.
1946 Noble & Junner Vital to Life of Nation vi. 96 (caption) A London steam omnibus of 1902.
1958 Listener 11 Sept. 379/2 He was knocked down and killed by a steam lorry.
1965 D. Arundell Story of Sadler's Wells xi. 144 Mrs. Warner and Phelps were shown arriving..in a first-class steam-railway carriage.
1970 F. McKenna Gloss. Railwaymen's Talk 1 Most steam locomotive depots in England are embedded in the older parts of our towns and cities.
1971 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 6 Nov. 86/3 The purpose of the California steam-bus project is to demonstrate how effectively city buses can operate at low levels of exhaust emission.
1977 D. Jack Leyland Bus i. 11 The back-bone of the business was production of steam lawn-mowers selling with 30-inch roller at £85 each.
1977 H. Fast Immigrants i. 72 I got two steam schooners, wooden ships, six hundred tons each.
1980 Times 25 June 4/2 The inaugural voyage of the National Trust's restored 1859 steam yacht the Gondola took place on Coniston Water yesterday.
C6.
a. Instrumental, with participial adjectives, as steam-bent, steam-driven, steam-going, steam-hauled, steam-heated, steam-operated, steam-ridden (figurative), steam-set, steam-wrought; steam-like adj. Also with verbal nouns, as steam-bending, steam cleaning, steam-heating; and verbs, as steam-bend, steam-clean (transitive).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > other cleaning methods, devices, or substances > clean by other miscellaneous methods [verb (transitive)]
rakec1400
pickle1605
to rub down1682
thumb1768
steam-clean1835
bread1869
French-chalk1870
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [adjective] > type of train
carriaged1776
steam-hauled1835
steam-operated1835
jerkwater1852
articulated1884
vestibuled1890
multiple-unit1902
air-braked1905
collision-proof1906
pull-and-push1914
push-and-pull1927
sealed1949
drive-on1954
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > perform general or industrial manufacturing processes [verb (intransitive)] > bend with aid of steam
steam-bend1835
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > other cleaning methods, devices, or substances > [noun] > methods
steam cleaning1835
self-cleansing1837
self-cleaning1843
pickling1881
ion bombardment1952
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > [noun] > processing > types of shaping process
moulding1327
turningc1440
turnerya1680
turnery work1744
steam-bending1835
wheeling1882
fabrication1926
hot moulding1935
tableting1947
micromachining1955
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > materials having undergone process > [adjective] > shaped by specific means or in specific way
turnedc1440
steam-bent1835
monobloc1909
injection-moulded1947
press-moulded1951
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > [noun] > by specific means
fire (or heat) of suppression1663
steam-heating1835
solar heating1903
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > [adjective] > heated or warmed > heated by specific means
steam-heated1835
coal-fired1855
gas-fired1862
solar-heated1952
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 381 Attendants on steam-going looms.
1845 S. Judd Margaret i. xvii. 171 A steam-like vapor arose from the frozen River.
1852 C. W. Hoskyns Talpa 183 A steam-driven cultivator can be brought to bear.
1868 F. H. Joynson Metals in Constr. 54 A steam-wrought hammer.
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 861/1 In Campbell & Pryor's method of steam heating for dwellings, the steam boiler and radiators are inclosed in a heating room in the cellar.
1885 G. Allen Babylon I. xiii. 276 This steam-ridden nineteenth century.
1890 Harper's Mag. Sept. 576/1 The Kents lived in a steam-heated flat.
1901 Scotsman 4 Sept. 7/8 Instead of a steam-driven train every two hours they might have an electrically-driven train every half-hour.
1911 Rep. Labour & Social Conditions in Germany III. vi–vii. 110 The rooms are steam-heated.
1917 S. Graham Priest of Ideal iv. 53 This mansion, with its good roof and closed windows and doors, and probably steam-heating to keep out the damp.
1934 Discovery Nov. 314/1 In 1934 the German railways made some striking accelerations in the schedules of their steam-hauled expresses.
1936 Discovery Nov. 357/1 Accelerations of steam-operated trains in Great Britain continues.
1946 Nature 5 Oct. 474/1 This at once prompted Rudall to examine the effect of 50 per cent urea on steam-set β-keratin.
1949 Sun (Baltimore) 14 Dec. 5/2 Already, automobile ‘laundries’ and firms that steam-clean buildings have been told to cease operation.
1956 Handbk. Hardwoods (Forest Products Res. Lab.) 2 Classification of timbers according to their steam-bending properties is..based mainly on the minimum bending radius of sound, clear specimens 1 in. thick at a moisture content of about 25 per cent.
1956 Amer. Speech 31 86 Advertisement of Adelaide Steam Cleaning Service.
1962 J. T. Marsh Self-smoothing Fabrics ix. 122 It is not necessary to employ a special chamber for curing, but only the usual steam-heated cylinders or a stenter.
1962 J. T. Marsh Self-smoothing Fabrics ii. 9 The steam-set fabric has a pleasant handle, and good crease recovery.
1966 A. W. Lewis Gloss. Woodworking Terms 106 Oak, Japanese..easier to work than European oak. Steam-bends excellently.
1973 Times 4 Oct. 24/5 The chair is demountable and consists of eight wooden staves..steam-bent into a soft, flowing outline.
1977 Mod. Railways Dec. 493/3 Steam-hauled excursions would be operated over this short length.
1978 Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. 2 f/4 The natives claim ‘the diggers’, which is even more impolite than calling them Aussies, come to this spectacular thermal display to get their suits steam-cleaned for free.
b. Objective, as steam-raising.
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1923 Engineering 26 Jan. 101/2 The boilers, furnaces..economisers, coal bunkers and other details of the steam-raising equipment are carried by the steel framework of the building.
1979 Improved Energy Efficiency (Shell Internat. Petroleum Co.) 5 Substantial savings are possible in steam-raising.
C7. Special combinations:† steam-carriage n. Obsolete a carriage driven or drawn by steam (a) on a railroad or tramway, (b) on common roads.† steam-chaise n. Obsolete a chaise driven by steam.† steam-coach n. Obsolete = steam-carriage n.† steam-doctor n. Obsolete one who treats diseases by vapour-baths.† steam-horse n. Obsolete a kind of traction-engine.† steam-kettle n. Obsolete a kettle used in sickrooms to create a moist warm atmosphere. † steam-wagon n. Obsolete a wagon drawn by steam on a railway or on a common road.† steam-wheel n. Obsolete the rotary steam-engine; also figurative.
steam age n. the era when trains were drawn by steam locomotives; also, attributive or as adj. , belonging to this era; figurative out-of-date.
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society > travel > rail travel > [noun] > age of steam locomotives
steam age1941
society > travel > rail travel > [adjective] > belonging to age of steam locomotives
steam age1941
the world > time > relative time > the past > historical period > [noun] > other historical periods
antiquityc1375
Christian antiquity1577
the days of ignorance1652
the time of ignorance1652
dark ages1656
Lower Empire1668
the age of reason1792
Scythism1793
grand siècle1811
the Age of Enlightenment1825
the Hundred Days1827
Tom and Jerry days1840
regency1841
industrial age1843
Régence1845
viking age1847
ignorance1867
renascence1868
Renaissance1872
gilded age1874
jazz era1919
jazz age1920
post-war1934
steam age1941
postcolonialism1955
information age1960
the world > time > relative time > the past > historical period > [adjective] > of other specific periods
Georgian1745
romancean1804
early modern1817
federal1838
Jacobean1844
post-Reformation1850
pre-Reformation1855
postcolonial1861
post-Renaissance1874
post-conquest1880
post-conquestual1880
Jacobian1883
post-pyramidal1883
pre-industrial1883
early American1895
bow-and-arrow1899
palaeotechnic1904
Renaissancist1932
steam age1941
Carolinian1949
postcolonialist1957
the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [adjective] > old-fashioned or antiquated
moth-frettenOE
antiquate?a1425
antique?1532
rusty1549
moth-eaten1551
musty1575
worm-eatenc1575
overyear1584
out of date1589
old-fashioned1592
out of date1592
worm-eat1597
old-fashion1599
ancient1601
outdated1616
out-of-fashion1623
over-aged1623
superannuateda1634
thorough-old1639
overdateda1641
trunk-hosea1643
antiquitated1645
antiquated1654
out-of-fashioned1671
unmodern1731
of the old school1749
auld-farrant1750
old-fangled1764
fossila1770
fogram1772
passé1775
unmodernized1775
oxidated1791
moss-covered1792
square-toeda1797
old-fashionable1807
pigtail1817
behind the times1826
slow1827
fossilized1828
rococo1836
antiquish1838
old-timey1850
out of season1850
moss-grown1851
old style1858
antiqued1859
pigtaily1859
prehistoric1859
backdated1862
played1864
fossiled1866
bygone1869
mossy-backed1870
old-worldly1878
past-time1889
outmoded1896
dated1900
brontosaurian1909
antiquey1926
horse-and-buggy1926
vintage1928
Neolithic1934
time-warped1938
demoded1941
steam age1941
hairy1946
old school1946
rinky-dink1946
time warp1954
Palaeolithic1957
retardataire1958
throwback1968
wally1969
antwacky1975
1941 W. H. Auden New Year Let. iii. 66 The genius of the loud Steam Age.
1961 Spectator 4 Aug. 181 The jet-age author gets the same sort of romance out of beaten-up old Dakotas..as steam-age Robert Louis Stevenson did from a schooner.
1978 W. Garner Möbius Trip (1979) i. i. 34 Suppose you're..a bullion dealer. You're not happy with your present security. It's a little bit steam age.
steam beer n. a Californian effervescent beer.
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the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > beer > [noun] > other kinds of beer
spruce beerc1500
March beer1535
Lubecks beer1608
zythum1608
household beer1616
bottle1622
mumc1623
old beer1626
six1631
four1633
maize beer1663
mum beer1667
vinegar beer1677
wrest-beer1689
nog1693
October1705
October beer1707
ship-beer1707
butt beer1730
starting beer1735
butt1743
peterman1767
seamen's beer1795
chang1800
treacle beer1806
stock beer1826
Iceland beer1828
East India pale ale1835
India pale ale1837
faro1847
she-oak1848
Bass1849
bitter beer1850
bock1856
treble X1856
Burton1861
nettle beer1864
honey beer1867
pivo1873
Lambic1889
steam beer1898
barley-beer1901
gueuze1926
Kriek1936
best1938
rough1946
keg1949
IPA1953
busaa1967
mbege1972
microbrew1985
microbeer1986
yeast-beer-
1898 Western Brewer XXVIII. 278/1 Steam beer..is bottom fermenting... The steam beer mash is made according to the English downward mashing method.
1941 American Neptune Oct. 402 Claus Spreckels is the reputed inventor of the great San Francisco speciality, steam beer.
1959 San Francisco Chron. 28 June 1 There won't be a drop of steam beer in Northern California after a few more days.
1974 W. R. Hunt North of 53° xv. 102 Many saloons served the ‘choicest goods’ and steam beer at two bits a glass.
steam-boiler n. a vessel in which water is heated to generate steam, esp. for working a steam-engine (boiler n. 2b).
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > boiler > [noun] > types of
steam-boiler1805
boiler1818
generator1823
wagon-boiler1837
Cornish boiler1840
saddle boiler1840
French boiler1844
vomiting-boiler1844
water-tube boiler1850
feed-heater1864
Scotch boiler1877
cross-tubea1884
steamer1891
flash generator1903
flash steam generator1907
waste-heat boiler1930
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 66 Steam-Boilers [for boiling meat].
1815 Ann. Reg., Chron. 91 A new steam boiler, worked by what is called a pressure engine.
1847 Mechanics' Mag. 2 Jan. 23/2 Dr. Ritterbrandt's Process for Preventing the Incrustation of Steam-boilers.
steam-bomb n. = candle-bomb n. at candle n. Compounds 2.
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the world > matter > chemistry > equipment or apparatus > [noun] > general vessels > glass > others
urinalc1300
recipient1558
matrass1591
tritory1660
balloon1678
proof-glass1765
air-bell1782
transfer-jar1827
ignition tube1874
beaker1877
bell-jar1877
flask1878
steam-bomb1895
Nessler tube1906
oxygen bottle1932
1895 Model Steam Eng. 14 Candle or Steam Bombs.
steam calliope n. U.S. = steam-organ n.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > types of organ > [noun] > steam organ
steam-organ1795
calliope1856
steam calliope1868
1868 Daily Territorial Enterprise (Virginia City, Nevada) 29 Aug. 3/1 Even a steam calliope would not cause our firm nerves to tremble as vigorously as this worst of all combinations of unsweet tones.
1936 J. Dos Passos Big Money 164 The clanking roar of the rollercoaster and the steam-calliope.
1976 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch 16 Sept. 1/2 A steam calliope is the ransom for the return of Nipper.
steam-car n. a car driven or drawn by steam, e.g. a motor car worked by steam instead of petrol; U.S. a railway-carriage.
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society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > railway wagon or carriage
rail wagon1824
railway wagon1824
wagon1825
car1826
railway car1828
railroad car1829
railcar1833
steam-car1833
road car1834
motor car1878
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > railway wagon or carriage > carriage designed to carry passengers
steam-carriage1788
railway carriage1824
carriage1825
railroad carriage1826
railroad car1829
railroad coach1829
rail carriage1831
coach1832
passenger car1832
steam-car1833
passenger carriage1838
passenger coach1841
day coach1869
bogie1919
clockwork orange1978
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > steam-powered > steam car
steam-car1833
steamer1900
1833 Amer. Rail Road Jrnl. 2 225/2 The Steam Car accomplished the distance.
1836 Southern Lit. Messenger 2 762 The canal and the rail road, the steam boat and steam car, constitute in fact the great and characteristic powers of the age in which we live.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Steam-car, a car drawn by steam-power.
1877 Rep. Sel. Comm. Tramways 105 Steam cars might be very safely used, perhaps in Whitechapel.
1886 A. Winchell Walks & Talks in Geol. Field 11 There, in the distance, flies the train of steam-cars.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. lxxxi. 69 When you meet them in the steam cars (i.e. on a railway journey).
1903 J. Fox Little Shepherd v. 65 ‘Steam cars!’ they cried.
1904 Indiana (Pa.) Evening Gaz. 14 Dec. 2/3 A De Dion steam car and a petrol bicycle.
1962 E. Lucia Klondike Kate 7 They clambered aboard..the steam cars.
1969 Listener 3 July 31/3 Mr Donald Healey, developer of Austin-Healey sports cars, is rumoured to be building..a 140 m.p.h. steam car... The current spate of steam-car development projects.
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society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > railway wagon or carriage > carriage designed to carry passengers
steam-carriage1788
railway carriage1824
carriage1825
railroad carriage1826
railroad car1829
railroad coach1829
rail carriage1831
coach1832
passenger car1832
steam-car1833
passenger carriage1838
passenger coach1841
day coach1869
bogie1919
clockwork orange1978
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > steam-powered > steam wagon, -coach, or -carriage
steam-chaise1769
steam-carriage1788
steam-wagon1821
steam-coach1825
locomobile1868
1788 in Ann. Rep. U.S. Commissioner Patents 1849: Arts & Manuf. (1850) (31st Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. No. 20, Pt. 1) 581 If any person..shall make..any elevator, hopper-boy, or any steam-carriage..without the consent of the said Oliver Evans.
1824 T. G. Cumming (title) Illustrations of the origin and progress of Rail and Tram Roads, and Steam Carriages, or locomotive Engines.
1831 Rep. Select Comm. Steam Carriages 17 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 324) VIII. 203 Are you [Mr. G. Gurney] the proprietor of a Steam Carriage used on public roads?
1844 Queen's Regulations & Orders Army 211 Officers thus circumstanced are likewise to proceed by Steam-Carriages upon Railroads.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > steam-powered > steam wagon, -coach, or -carriage
steam-chaise1769
steam-carriage1788
steam-wagon1821
steam-coach1825
locomobile1868
1769 Dr. Small in Muirhead Invent. Watt (1854) I. 52 A linen-draper at London, one Moore, has taken out a patent for moving wheel~carriages by steam... However, if you will come hither soon, I will..buy a steam-chaise of you and not of Moore.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > steam-powered > steam wagon, -coach, or -carriage
steam-chaise1769
steam-carriage1788
steam-wagon1821
steam-coach1825
locomobile1868
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 661 A steam-coach for the conveyance of passengers [on a railroad].
1828 Sporting Mag. 21 267 I hear it is intended in good earnest to start a steam-coach from London to Southampton.
1834 L. Ritchie Wanderings by Seine 177 We saw a steam-coach which had stopped at the door of the public house.
steam-coal n. coal suitable for heating water in steam-boilers.
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society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > coal or types of coal > [noun]
coal1253
sea-coal1253
pit-coal1483
cannel1541
earth coala1552
horse coal1552
Newcastle coal1552
stone-coal1585
cannel coal1587
parrot1594
burn-coal1597
lithanthrax1612
stony coal1617
Welsh coala1618
land-coala1661
foot coal1665
peacock coal1686
rough coal1686
white coal1686
heathen-coalc1697
coal-stone1708
round1708
stone-coal1708
bench-coal1712
slipper coal1712
black coal1713
culm1742
rock coal1750
board coal1761
Bovey coal1761
house coal1784
mineral coal1785
splint1789
splint coal1789
jet coal1794
anthracite1797
wood-coal1799
blind-coal1802
black diamond1803
silk-coal1803
glance-coal1805
lignite1808
Welsh stone-coal1808
soft1811
spout coals1821
spouter1821
Wallsend1821
brown coal1833
paper coal1833
steam-coal1850
peat-coal1851
cherry-coal1853
household1854
sinter coal1854
oil coal1856
raker1857
Kilkenny coal1861
Pottery coal1867
silkstone1867
block coal1871
admiralty1877
rattlejack1877
bunker1883
fusain1883
smitham1883
bunker coal1885
triping1886
trolley coal1890
kibble1891
sea-borne1892
jet1893
steam1897
sack coal1898
Welsh1898
navigation coal1900
Coalite1906
clarain1919
durain1919
vitrain1919
single1921
kolm1930
hards1956
1850 D. T. Ansted Elem. Course Geol. 414 There is a third..condition of coal now known as ‘steam-coal’, and admirably adapted for the use of the steam-navy.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 238 The finest steam coals of South Wales are moderately hard and almost smokeless.
steam-colour n. Calico-printing a colour developed and fixed in the cloth by steaming.
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the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > dye > fast dye
grain1377
grain-colour1632
steam-colour1844
1844 E. A. Parnell's Appl. Chem. I. 368 Steam colours.
steam cracking n. the thermal cracking of petroleum using steam as an inert diluent which reduces polymerization and increases the yield of olefins.
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society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > oil refining or separating processes > [noun]
re-refining1864
cracking1868
stripping1922
sweetening1924
Platforming1949
Powerforming1956
steam cracking1959
1959 Petroleum Times 25 Sept. 602/1 No. 3 olefine plant is..based on the steam cracking process.
1962 Murphree & Ciprios in Mod. Petroleum Technol. (ed. 3) ix. 318 Although the primary purpose of steam cracking is the production of light hydrocarbons, the process also produces material in the gasoline boiling range.
1977 Shell in Base Chemicals (Shell Internat. Petroleum Co.) 4 Benzene, toluene and mixed xylenes coming from oil are extracted in special plants from reformate and pyrolysis gasoline, formed when lower olefins are manufactured by the steam-cracking of liquid feedstocks.
steam-cracked adj.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [adjective] > refined or distilled mineral oil
cracked1884
wide-cut1888
stripped1931
re-refined1932
steam-cracked1962
1962 Murphree & Ciprios in Mod. Petroleum Technol. (ed. 3) ix. 318 The octane number of this steam-cracked naphtha ranges from about 80 to 100 research method (unleaded).
steam cracker n. an installation for this process.
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society > occupation and work > workplace > places for working with specific materials > place for working with oil or gas > [noun] > oil refinery > apparatus for converting to petrol > for breaking it into simpler molecules
cracker1951
hydro-cracker1965
steam cracker1968
1968 Economist 2 Nov. 73/1 When finished, the plant will include a new steam cracker, with a production capacity of 340,000 tons a year of ethylene, 200,000 tons of propylene, [etc.].
steam curing n. the curing or hardening of a material by treatment with steam.
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society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > [noun] > processing > other processes
ripping1463
intinction1559
sweat1573
inceration1612
rasion1617
lixiviation1664
scribing1679
beating1687
bushing1794
refinishing1842
grading1852
conditioning1858
ripening1860
scutching1861
retreatment1867
chamber process1869
installation1882
tanking1891
fobbing1898
steam curing1907
sieve analysis1928
mulling1931
linishing1945
1907 Engin. News 5 Sept. 249/1 (heading) Effect of steam curing on the crushing strength of concrete.
1921 W. K. Hatt & W. Voss Concrete Work I. viii. 181 Steam curing is accomplished in curing tunnels with a roof of such a shape that it will drain the condensed moisture to the sides of the tunnel.
1967 M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World iv. 128 The whole assembly is..put into a steam-curing cabinet.
steam-cure v. (transitive) .
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society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > perform general or industrial manufacturing processes [verb (transitive)] > other processes
cure1633
scribe1678
refinish1820
retort1850
prick1872
supple1876
whizz1882
steam-cure1910
linish1971
1910 Cement Era VIII. 169/1 Blocks of 1 part cement to 8 parts sand and [sic] steam cured at 80 pounds pressure showed a crusting strength of 2,100 pounds per square inch.
1962 J. T. Marsh Self-smoothing Fabrics xi. 177 It sometimes happens that, with cotton goods which have been steam-cured, the crease recovery is very slightly below that obtained in an atmosphere free from steam.
steam-cured adj.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > materials having undergone process > [adjective] > having undergone other processes
alumed1574
splinted1616
scribed1678
cold-drawn1716
droved1754
cool-drawn1774
swaged1842
spliced1859
chiselled1873
steam-cured1909
refinished1910
precast1914
fibrillated1929
plasticized1937
foamed1943
1909 Chem. Abstr. 3 1210 Steam-cured blocks may be made all winter.
1962 J. T. Marsh Self-smoothing Fabrics xi. 176 It was possible to show a linear relation between the improvement in resistance to abrasion of steam-cured fabrics over dry-cured fabrics and the amount of steam present.
steam distillation n. Physical Chemistry distillation of a liquid in a current of steam, used esp. to purify at temperatures below their normal boiling points liquids that are not very volatile and are immiscible with water.
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the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [noun] > chemical reactions or processes (named) > distillation > steam distillation
steam distillation1904
1904 Analyst XXIX. 385 (heading) Laboratory apparatus for steam distillation.
1954 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) XI. 85/2 The chief advantage offered by steam distillation is that a substance of fairly low volatility can be separated from non-volatile impurities at a temperature much below its normal boiling-point.
1972 P. R. S. Murray Princ. Org. Chem. ix. 58 Steam distillation is most effective when one of the components to be separated..has a high molecular weight.
steam-distil v. [as a back-formation] (transitive and intransitive) .
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the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > undergo chemical reactions or processes [verb (intransitive)] > undergo chemical reactions or processes (named) > undergo distillation > specific steam distillation
steam-distil1923
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > subject to chemical reactions or processes [verb (transitive)] > subject to named chemical reaction or process > subject to distillation > subject to steam distillation
steam-distil1923
1923 W. M. Cumming et al. Systematic Org. Chem. ii. 24 When the liquid to be steam-distilled is lighter than water, the small glass tube E is extended to the bottom of the receiver.
1964 Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. 2 152 The compound is reduced to trimethylamine with tiCl3, which is then steam-distilled into an excess of standardized acid.
1974 Rosser & Williams Mod. Org. Chem. for ‘A’ Level xiii. 253 If care is not taken to dry organic liquids thoroughly, the water/liquid mixture will often steam-distil over at a temperature lower than the actual boiling point of the pure liquid.
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the world > health and disease > healing > healer > physician > [noun] > advocating specific treatments > water treatment
water doctor1736
steam-doctor1830
water-curer1840
hydropath1842
hydriatrist1843
hydropathist1847
balneologist1872
1830 Cincinnati Chron. 6 Feb. 2/3 The Mayor was induced..to issue his warrant for the apprehension of a black man calling himself Caesar Gimsoun, and practising in this city as a steam doctor.
1833 J. Neal Down-easters I. 15 Never hearn tell o' the rain water doctor? some calls him the screw-augur doctor, and some the steam-doctor.
1853 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 9) Steam-doctor, a term applied to one who treats all or most diseases by steam.
1860 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 3) Thompsonian Doctor, a physician who follows the Thompsonian practice; also called Steam Doctor. Thompsonian Practice, a peculiar treatment of diseases.
steam-drive n. the supplying of motive power by means of steam.
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1910 Chambers's Jrnl. 751/2 We had no steam-power available to drive the winding-rollers... A few days later we succeeded in rigging up an old, primitive system of steam-drive which enabled us to get up a greater speed on the band.
steam-eater n. colloquial an engine or apparatus which consumes a great amount of heated steam either on account of its size or through waste.
ΚΠ
1900 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers 29 581 These pumps are the worst steam-eaters in the ship.
steamfitter n. one who installs the pipes of a steam-heating system; a steam-heating engineer.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > utility service workers > [noun] > pipe-layer or -fitter
piper1456
pipelayer1818
pipe-fitter1860
pipeman1863
steamfitter1906
1906 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 12 Jan. 7/7 (advt.) To plumbers, steam fitters etc. We have just received two carloads of iron pipes in all sizes.
1977 J. Crosby Company of Friends xvii. 114 They both laughed…talking about the problems of the trade like steamfitters discussing occupational hazards.
steam fly n. the small brown cockroach, Blattella germanica, commonly found in kitchens and bathrooms.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Dictyoptera > member of genus Blatta (cockroach) > blattella germanica (steam fly)
German cockroach1846
steam fly1933
1933 M. Lowry Ultramarine iv. 184 ‘You shuffle them—’ ‘—King of the steam-flies, eh—’.
1944 Jrnl. Royal Army Med. Corps 83 188 The steam fly or German cockroach.
1962 New Scientist 11 Oct. 75/1 The German cockroach, commonly referred to as ‘the steam fly’, is dark brown to tan in colour and is also very widely distributed.
steam heat n. heat produced by steam; now spec. (the heat produced by) a steam-generating central heating system, used in passenger trains and buildings; hence steam heater, steam heating.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > [noun] > heat produced by specific means
sand-heat1612
steam heat1825
wobble-heat1899
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > heater using steam
steam radiator1725
steam heatera1884
pressure heater1893
1825 J. M. Good Study Med. (ed. 2) II. 543 The extract of hemlock or of hyoscyamus, prepared in a steam-heat.
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 861/1 Steam Heater,..a low pressure steam-heating apparatus.
1904 Railway Mag. 14 169/2 Since the general introduction of steam-heat..it appears to be an easy matter for the guard to simply turn a valve to supply sufficient steam to heat the cars comfortably.
1941 J. Masefield In Mill 36 The winter steam-heat made it impossible to wear a coat while at work.
1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run Railway ii. 7 The second [mistake was] to report myself for pulling off the steam-heater pipe.
1974 Times 1 Apr. 14/5 Hugh Lawson, deputy city engineer of Nottingham, gave a speedy talk on his city's steam-heat system.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > steam-powered > traction engine
steam-horse1815
puffer1849
traction-engine1859
1815 J. von Baader Specif. Patent 3959 7 Those complicated..machines called locomotive engines or steam horses.
1855 Pract. Mechanic's Jrnl. Sept. 139 Mr. Boydell's ‘steam horse,’ or ‘traction engine,’ was put upon the brake in order to test its power.
steam-iron n. an electric iron containing water which is heated and emitted as steam from its flat surface to assist in the pressing of clothes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > pressing or ironing > ironing or pressing implements
pressing iron1343
cold press1552
setting-stick?1578
putter1583
putting stick1583
poking-stick1592
pooter1596
poting stick1600
poker1604
goose1606
poking-iron?1606
iron1613
smoothing-iron1627
steel1638
box iron1640
smoothing-boxa1684
press iron1695
ironing board1721
sad iron1759
ironing blanket1774
ironing table1778
flat-iron1810
sleeve-board1826
ironer1833
Italian iron1833
press-board1849
ironing machine1851
goffering-iron1861
skirt-board1861
goffer1865
trouser press1880
ironing board cover1886
trouser presser1888
electric iron1890
press cloth1918
press-pad1924
tie press1926
steam-iron1951
pressing board1969
1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 154/2 Electronic steam irons are now available, but..are not always so effective as they might appear.
1962 Which? Sept. 270/1 If you want to avoid using a damp cloth or damping the clothes, then your choice may well be a steam iron.
1972 Guardian 30 Aug. 9/5 The opening for filling steam irons with distilled water is usually mingy, and the thing overflows.
steam-jacket n. a jacket or casing filled with steam in order to preserve the heat of the vessel round which it is placed.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > [noun] > parts of
helm1663
spring-beam?1794
steam-jacket1838
cut-off1849
steam-jacketing1870
starting block1881
timing chain1889
timing mark1901
decelerator1907
air drain1908
plenum chamber1908
reservoir1920
1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 139/2 The best engines in Cornwall have the steam jackets supplied from a pipe communicating directly with the boiler.
1883 R. Haldane Workshop Receipts 2nd Ser. 35/1 Wrought-iron cylinders..provided with a steam-jacket to control their temperatures.
steam-jacketed adj.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > [adjective] > other qualities or attributes
bell-mouthed1797
reverse1839
throttled1850
reversible1852
steam-jacketed1876
multi-cylindera1884
multiple-cylinder1888
four-cycle1909
multi-cylindered1909
knockless1928
throttleable1951
multi-fuel1957
stretched1960
multi-fuelled1964
1876 S. Kens. Mus. Catalog. No. 2152 The cylinders of the engines are steam jacketed.
1904 Windsor Mag. Jan. 275/1 Six steam-jacketed boilers.
steam-jacketing n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > [noun] > parts of
helm1663
spring-beam?1794
steam-jacket1838
cut-off1849
steam-jacketing1870
starting block1881
timing chain1889
timing mark1901
decelerator1907
air drain1908
plenum chamber1908
reservoir1920
1870 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 89 21 In a paper upon steam jacketting.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > other medical equipment > [noun] > kettle
croup-kettlea1884
bronchitis kettle1886
steam-kettle1890
1890 F. Taylor Man. Pract. Med. (1891) 356 In the intervals, the largyngitis is to be treated by a moist warm atmosphere (steam-kettle) and mild opiates as in other cases.
steam line n. a line in a phase diagram representing the conditions of temperature and pressure at which water and water vapour are in equilibrium in the absence of ice.
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the world > matter > chemistry > physical chemistry > phases > [noun] > diagram > line on
steam line1879
liquidus1901
tie-line1924
1879 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 731/2 At this point the steam line, ice line, and hoar-frost line intersect, and it has therefore been called the triple point.
1937 M. W. Zemansky Heat & Thermodynamics xi. 175 In the particular case of water..the vaporization curve is called the steam line.
steam-navvy n. a machine for digging or excavating by steam.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > earth-moving and excavating equipment > [noun] > excavator
steam shovel1801
steam trowel1801
excavator1843
earthmover1871
navvy1877
steam-navvy1881
backhoe1928
Traxcavator1940
back-acter1957
1881 Spons' Dict. Engin. Suppl. III. 1107 A steam navvy..consisting of a rectangular truck, supported on four wheels, carrying the engine and boiler.
Categories »
steam nigger n. U.S. the long cylinder with piston and rod by which the log is forced up to the saw in a sawing mill.
steam-organ n. = calliope n. 1.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > types of organ > [noun] > steam organ
steam-organ1795
calliope1856
steam calliope1868
1795 W. Mason Ess. Eng. Church Music i. 36 And who knows but a certain noble Mechanic..may place a Steam Organ upon the Poop and play ça ira upon it.
1841 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 4 247 M. Lax, jun., has just invented a steam organ, which can be heard through the extent of a whole province.
1910 ‘I. Hay’ in Granta 11 June 12 Even the steam organs seemed to have stopped of their own accord.
1962 L. Davidson Rose of Tibet vi. 106 It was as though he had been pushed into a steam organ at a fair. The stupefying blare of sound.
steam-owner n. an owner of steamships.
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1899 C. J. C. Hyne Further Adventures Capt. Kettle vi Why, sir, you've been a steam-owner in your time.
steam-pocket n. ‘a place below the water-level of a boiler where steam accumulates or is formed and does not pass away quickly’ (Cent. D. Suppl. 1909).
steam-pocketing n.
ΚΠ
1910 Chambers's Jrnl. 60/2 The steam has the greatest facility for its escape from the tubes without any signs of steam-pocketing, which is a serious evil in this class of steam-raiser.
steam point n. (a) a temperature at which liquid water and water vapour are in equilibrium; spec. the boiling point of water under standard atmospheric pressure; (b) North American a metal pipe which is driven into frozen earth and down which steam can be passed in order to thaw the ground for mining.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > mining equipment > [noun] > other mining equipment
dial1681
stick1708
motty1797
nail1839
spiking crib or curb1839
spile1841
bull1849
dag1863
ore bin1867
monitor1873
Billy Fairplay1876
snibble1883
brattice-cloth1885
breaker1885
steam point1895
picking belt1900
self-rescuer1924
rock duster1930
walking dragline1930
the world > matter > chemistry > physical chemistry > phases > [noun] > steam point
steam point1895
1895 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 67 196 It is absolutely necessary that the surface of the pyrometer should be free from all soluble salts when the steam point is being taken.
1903 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 200 122 The observed pressure at the steam-point.
1909 Yukon Territory (Canada Dept. Interior) iv. 38 A steam point is an iron pipe of about 5½ feet in length,..connected to a boiler supplying the steam... The miner drives the steam point into the ground, where it is left..until a hole is thawed.
1965 Jrnl. Chem. Physics 42 274/2 In 1954 the size of the Kelvin degree was fixed by assigning the value 273·16°K to the triple point of water, so that the value of the steam point is now subject to experimental determination.
1974 W. R. Hunt North of 53° iv. 15 Steam points replaced wood fires for thawing and this greatly speeded the mining work.
steam radio n. colloquial name for sound radio, considered outmoded by television; hence, a radio receiver.
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society > communication > broadcasting > radio broadcasting > [noun]
radio1907
wireless1922
the spoken word1940
sound1949
steam radio1957
steam1959
society > communication > broadcasting > radio broadcasting > [noun] > radio set
portable1900
wireless set1907
wireless1909
crystal receiver1910
radio1912
radio set1912
box1916
crystal set1921
crystal radio1922
receiver1930
car radio1931
clock radio1946
transistor set1953
transistor radio1956
steam radio1957
transistor1961
tranny1969
Casseiver1976
1957 V. Gielgud Brit. Radio Drama 1922–56 The flight from ‘steam-radio’ to television has become an admitted rout.
1961 Radio Times 6 Apr. 41/4 I am the proud possessor of ‘square eyeballs’, but still feel that the good old ‘steam’ radio has a winner in the Scrapbook series.
1976 J. Snow Cricket Rebel 7 Overseas tours were followed equally avidly on the old ‘steam’ radio in the lounge.
steam-raiser n. (a) a steam-engine; (b) a person employed in an engine shed to light the fires of locomotives and raise steam.
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society > travel > rail travel > railway worker > [noun] > one who raises steam
steam-raiser1910
1910 Chambers's Jrnl. 60/2 The steam has the greatest facility for its escape from the tubes without any signs of steam-pocketing, which is a serious evil in this class of steam-raiser.
1925 W. Paterson & H. Webster Man. Locomotive Running Shed Managem. viii. 114 The usual method is for the steam raiser to ‘line’ the grate along the firebox sides and well into the corners with coal, leaving the centre of the grate bare.
1947 H. Webster Locomotive Running Shed Pract. 177 Following an interval of 30 minutes or so the fire is inspected by the steam-raiser who breaks it up and adds fresh fuel.
steam-road n. a road prepared for steam-traction; U.S. a railroad.
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society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > a railway > for steam-trains
steam railway1812
steam-road1837
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > for wheeled vehicles > for steam traction
steam-road1837
1837 W. B. Adams Eng. Pleasure Carriages 291 To make a steam-road is more costly than an animal road, because it imperatively requires a more exact level.
1911 H. S. Harrison Queed xv. 174 The cars are steam-road size.
steam-room n. (a) steam-space n. below; (b) U.S. a vapour bath.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > boiler > [noun] > parts of > compartments
fireplace1611
firebox1735
fire chamber1808
water space1824
water pocket1863
steam-space1867
steam-room1875
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Steam-room, the capacity for steam over the surface of the water in the boiler.
1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 73/1 A steamroom in which vapors rise and good men fall.
steam-space n. the space above the water-level in a steam-boiler.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > boiler > [noun] > parts of > compartments
fireplace1611
firebox1735
fire chamber1808
water space1824
water pocket1863
steam-space1867
steam-room1875
1867–72 N. P. Burgh Mod. Marine Engin. 371/2 Lowness of the steam space above the water line in the boiler.
steam table n. U.S. a table in a cafeteria, etc., slotted to hold containers of cooked food kept hot by steam circulating beneath them.
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the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > stove or cooker > [noun] > food warmer
Mary's bath1600
Saint Mary's bath1612
water plate1721
hot closet1798
water bath1806
bain-marie1822
hotplate1861
steam table1861
rechaud1906
pap-warmer1920
warming oven1950
veilleuse1955
warming drawer1972
1861 C. E. Francatelli Cook's Guide 3 (advt.) Smoke Jacks, Hot Plates,.., Steam Tables, and..other description of..Cooking Apparatus.
1944 S. Bellow Dangling Man 32 I looked around at the steam tables and the posters of foundering ships.
1976 M. Machlin Pipeline xiii. 154 Next to the sandwiches was a steam table with several containers of soggy-looking breaded veal cutlets.
steam-tent n. a tent used in the treatment of laryngeal and pulmonary disease.
ΚΠ
1892 J. Carmichael Disease in Children 238 The patient [is] put to bed in a steam tent.
steam-tight adj. tight enough to resist the ingress or egress of steam; also quasi-adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > [adjective] > stopping up or blocking > without leak or tight > specific
watertight1489
wind-tight1507
wind and water tighta1550
weatherproof1647
weather-tight1648
wind-fast1648
airtight1728
steam-tight1765
waterproofed1813
gas-tight1819
acid-proof1844
gas-proof1846
oil-tight1847
mudproof1897
pressure-tight1899
draught-proof1908
weather-stripped1908
spill-proof1920
vacuum-tight1927
splash-proof1929
vapour-proof1946
1765 Watt in Muirhead Invent. Watt (1854) I. 8 I..have not got the piston steam-tight yet.
1856 Dempsey Locomotive Eng. 40 The passage is closed completely steam-tight.
1892 D. A. Low Introd. Machine Drawing 118 A steam-tight joint.
steam-tug n. a steam-boat specially constructed for towing vessels; †applied jocularly to a railway-engine.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels with other specific uses > [noun] > tug
tow-boat1815
tracker1817
tug1817
tug-boat1832
towing-vessel1834
steam-tug1835
tug-steamer1861
tow1874
pusher tug1936
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > mechanically propelled vessels > [noun] > propelled by steam engine > other steam vessels
steam dredger1801
steam barge1812
steam hopper1812
steam-launch1812
steam schooner1812
steam-yacht1812
steam-tug1835
pleasure steamer1839
tug-steamer1861
ditcher1877
alligator1884
turnabout1885
tank-steamer1889
whaleback1891
whalebacker1891
1835 F. Marryat Olla Podrida vi, in Metrop. Mag. Three steam tugs, whose names are the Stephenson, the Arrow, and the Elephant, are to drag to Malines..all his majesty's ministers.
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed viii. 157 A steam-tug on the river hooted as she towed her barges to wharf.
steam-tug murmur n. Pathology (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1901 W. A. N. Dorland Illustr. Med. Dict. (ed. 2) Steam-tug murmur, a murmur heard in aortic obstruction and insufficiency, and resembling the sound of the exhaust of a steam-tug.
steam turbine n. see turbine n. b.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > steam-powered > steam wagon, -coach, or -carriage
steam-chaise1769
steam-carriage1788
steam-wagon1821
steam-coach1825
locomobile1868
1821 T. Gray Observ. Iron Rail-way (ed. 2) 5 Conveyance of all merchandise as well as persons, by steam waggons and coaches.
a1876 M. Collins Pen Sketches (1879) I. 245 This perturbed period of the steam-wagon and the lightning-wire.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > [noun] > types of
fire waterwork1663
steam-wheel1797
Cornish engine1840
beam-engine1844
machine-whim1848
screw engine1852
donkey-engine1858
quadruple expansion1861
tandem engine1878
uniflow1971
1797 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 744/1 A project of a steam-wheel, where the impulsive force of the vapour was employed.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Let. to — in Posthumous Poems (1824) 62 The self-impelling steam-wheels of the mind.
1841 S. C. Brees Gloss. Civil Engin. 218 Rotary, Rotatory, or Concentric Engine (sometimes called a steam-wheel).
Draft additions March 2003
steampunk n. [after cyberpunk n.; compare steam age n. at Compounds 7] Science Fiction a writer of science fiction which has a historical setting (esp. based on industrialized, nineteenth-century society) and characteristically features steam-powered, mechanized machinery rather than electronic technology; (also) such writing as a subgenre of science fiction.
ΚΠ
1987 K. W. Jeter in Locus Apr. 57/2 I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like ‘steam-punks’, perhaps.
1990 CU Amiga Apr. 66/3 Anyone acquainted with CU should be familiar with the concept of cyberspace by now—but steampunk is the next progression.
1999 Entertainm. Weekly (Electronic ed.) 8 Oct. The imaginative ‘steampunk’ concept eventually bubbled up to movies like Wild Wild West.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
steamv.
/stiːm/, U.S. /stim/ I. intransitive.† 1. To emit a scent or odour. Of a scent: To be emitted or exhaled. Also with adverbs, as out, up. Obsolete as a specific use: merged in sense 4.† 2. To emit flame, glow. Obsolete.
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the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > [verb (intransitive)]
stinkc725
steamOE
smellc1175
smakec1315
savoura1400
taragec1407
flavourc1425
scentc1460
breathea1500
smell1526
OE Phoenix 213 Wyrta wearmiað, willsele stymeð swetum swæccum, þonne on swole byrneð þurh fyres feng fugelmid neste.
c1000 Ælfric Lives Saints xxvii. 110 Wynsum bræð stemde of þære halgan rode.
1667 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 2 547 Laying open the hollow of the Thorax, there steam'd out at first a very offensive smell.
1847 W. H. Prescott Hist. Conquest Peru I. iii. vi. 448 They found themselves in a small and obscure apartment..from the floor and sides of which steamed up the most offensive odors, like those of a slaughter-house.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > fire or flame > become fire [verb (intransitive)] > blaze or flame
blaze?c1225
flame1377
lowec1400
steamc1405
flamble1557
aflamec1623
blazen1716
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 202 Hise eyen stepe, and rollynge in his heed That stemed as a fourneys of a leed.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 473/2 Stemyn, or lowyn vp, flammo.
3.
a. Of vapour, etc.: To be emitted or exhaled; to rise or issue in the form of steam. Also with away, up, etc.
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the world > matter > gas > [verb (intransitive)] > of vapour, etc.: be emitted, rise, or pass off
to stand upc1300
risea1382
exhalec1400
steam1582
fume1594
suffumigate1599
emanate1818
off-gas1979
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 50 And smoak swift steamd to the skyward.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. xii. sig. L7 When the last deadly smoke aloft did steeme.
1661 R. Boyle Two Ess. Unsuccessfulness Exper. i, in Certain Physiol. Ess. 58 The dissolved Amber..swimming like a thin film upon the surface of the Liquour, whence little by little it steamed away into the air.
1683 A. Snape Anat. Horse i. xxvi. 55 From which Seed a certain air or spirit steams through the Trumpets to the Testicles.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 85 The Water..thus imbib'd, returns in misty Dews, And steaming up, the rising Plant renews. View more context for this quotation
1699 J. Pomfret Love Triumphant 166 The Water round it gave a Nauseous Smell, Like Vapours Steeming from a Sulph'rous Cell.
1820 P. B. Shelley Sensitive Plant in Prometheus Unbound 171 Then there steamed up a freezing dew.
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities i. ii. 3 The reek of the labouring horses steamed into it.
b. figurative.
ΚΠ
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. i. sig. Cc4v Which she misconstruing, thereby esteemd That from like inward fire that outward smoke had steemd.
1692 E. Walker tr. Epictetus Enchiridion x A waking Dream, Such as from ill-digested Thoughts doth steam.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Lotos-eaters: Choric Song (rev. ed.) viii, in Poems (new ed.) I. 184 They find a music centred in a doleful song Steaming up, a lamentation and an ancient tale of wrong.
4. To emit, give off, exhale steam or vapour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [verb (intransitive)] > emit fumes or vapour
breathec1300
fume?1533
vapour1552
steam1614
vaporate1623
rokea1700
smoke1733
outgas1962
off-gas1979
1614 A. Gorges tr. Lucan Pharsalia vii. 285 The swords are cold on Pompeys part But Cæsars steeme in bloody mart.
1667 J. Dryden Indian Emperour iii. iii. 36 See, see, my Brother's Ghost hangs hovering there, O're his warm Blood, that steems into the Air.
1708 J. Philips Cyder ii. 140 Nor let the crude Humors dance In heated Brass, steaming with Fire intense.
1820 W. Scott Monastery III. xii. 319 Censers steaming with incense.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes II. i. 41 Several damp gentlemen, whose clothes, on their drawing round the stove, began to steam again.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxvii. 206 The glacier..steaming under the influence of the sun.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. v. 42 On the hob, a kettle steamed.
1913 Eng. Rev. Apr. 45 My eye glanced at the laboratory where the madder-vats were steaming.
5. Of a surface: To become covered or bedewed with condensed vapour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > be or become humid [verb (intransitive)] > fall or be deposited as condensed vapour > on or of a surface
eve1777
steam1892
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. p. cxlvii Ventilation Apertures to prevent Condensing Lenses steaming during exhibition.
6. To generate or produce steam for mechanical purposes: said of an engine or boiler. to steam up, to turn on steam or set it working; hence figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > beginning action or activity > begin action or activity [verb (intransitive)]
beginc1000
onginOE
aginOE
ginc1175
to go tillc1175
to take onc1175
comsea1225
fanga1225
to go toc1275
i-ginc1275
commencec1320
to get (also get down, go, go adown, set, set down) to workc1400
to lay to one's hand(sc1405
to put to one's hand (also hands)c1410
to set toc1425
standa1450
to make to1563
to fall to it1570
to start out1574
to fall to1577
to run upon ——1581
to break off1591
start1607
to set in1608
to set to one's hands1611
to put toa1616
to fall ona1625
in1633
to fall aboard1642
auspicatea1670
to set out1693
to enter (into) the fray1698
open1708
to start in1737
inchoate1767
to set off1774
go1780
start1785
to on with1843
to kick off1857
to start in on1859
to steam up1860
to push off1909
to cut loose1923
to get (also put) the show on the road1941
to get one's arse in gear1948
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > cause nervous excitement or agitate [verb (transitive)]
to carry away?1529
agitate1591
fermentate1599
tumultuate1616
alarm1620
overwork1645
uncalm1650
flutter1664
pother1692
to set afloata1713
fluctuate1788
fuss1816
tumult1819
to break up1825
rile1857
to steam up1860
to shake up1884
the mind > emotion > anger > [verb (transitive)] > make angry
wrethec900
abelgheeOE
abaeileOE
teenOE
i-wrathec1075
wratha1200
awratha1250
gramec1275
forthcalla1300
excitea1340
grieve1362
movea1382
achafea1400
craba1400
angerc1400
mada1425
provokec1425
forwrecchec1450
wrothc1450
arage1470
incensea1513
puff1526
angry1530
despite1530
exasperate1534
exasper1545
stunt1583
pepper1599
enfever1647
nanger1675
to put or set up the back1728
roil1742
outrage1818
to put a person's monkey up1833
to get one's back up1840
to bring one's nap up1843
rouse1843
to get a person's shirt out1844
heat1855
to steam up1860
to get one's rag out1862
steam1922
to burn up1923
to flip out1964
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > operate steam engine [verb (intransitive)] > of engine: produce steam
steam1860
the mind > emotion > excitement > exciting > excite [verb (transitive)]
astirc1000
stir?c1225
araisec1374
entalentc1374
flamec1380
reara1382
raisec1384
commove1393
kindlea1400
fluster1422
esmove1474
talent1486
heavec1540
erect?1555
inflame1560
to set on gog1560
yark1565
tickle1567
flesh1573
concitate1574
rouse1574
warmc1580
agitate1587
spirit1598
suscitate1598
fermentate1599
nettle1599
startle1602
worka1616
exagitate1621
foment1621
flush1633
exacuatea1637
ferment1667
to work up1681
pique1697
electrify1748
rattle1781
pump1791
to touch up1796
excite1821
to key up1835
to steam up1909
jazz1916
steam1922
volt1930
whee1949
to fire up1976
geek1984
1860 What shall I be? (U.S.A.) 95 Not so fast, Mr. Spit~fire; You needn't steam up so fast. I'm as good company as you'll find here.
1877 M. Reynolds Locom. Engine Driving 88 Some engines steam best with a low fire.
1897 Pall Mall Mag. Sept. 81 The engines steam splendidly, and haul without assistance a train of 250 tons.
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Steam v.i...4. To generate steam; as, the boiler steams well.
7. To move or travel by the agency of steam:
a. of a ship or its passengers. Also to steam it. Also with adverbs, as away.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [verb (intransitive)] > in specific type of craft
to barge it1599
boat?1630
canoe1732
shallop1737
raft1741
scow1749
steam1832
yacht1836
screw1840
steamer1866
gondole1874
kayak1875
sail1898
tramp1899
motor-boat1903
barge1909
hover1962
power1964
motor1968
jet-ski1978
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > make progress > by types of mechanical propulsion
puff?c1225
sternwheel1807
paddle1827
steam1832
screw1840
1832 F. Trollope Domest. Manners Amer. (ed. 2) I. xvii. 259 Even were all the parties strangers to each other [on long river excursions], the knowledge that they were to eat, to drink, and steam away together for a week or fortnight, would induce something like a social feeling in any other country.
1832 R. H. Froude Remains (1838) I. 306 We shall..see Avignon and Nismes, and then steam it up the Rhone to Lyons.
1837 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 28/1 She [a ship] will either steam or sail.
1844 W. H. Maxwell Wanderings in Highlands & Islands I. ii. 58 Every mile we steamed, the lake assumed a new character.
1878 W. H. G. Kingston Three Admirals xix. 437 The Bellona accordingly steamed on towards the entrance of the harbour.
1886 Law Times Rep. 53 726/1 When the tug was completed it was found that she could only steam ten or eleven knots an hour.
1888 Poor Nellie 388 The young lady had steamed over from America.
b. of a railway-engine, the train or its passengers.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > [verb (intransitive)] > move by agency of steam
puff1828
steam1862
1862 Mrs. H. Wood Verner's Pride viii, in Once a Week 19 July 102/2 The train was steaming into the station.
1899 Grattan Memory's Harkback 196 Now you can rail there, unconscious as to the beauties through which you have steamed.
c. figurative (colloquial)
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > act or do vigorously [verb (intransitive)]
twig1573
to go at ——1675
to go it1794
to come it1796
to lay it on thick1806
to blaze away1826
bushwhack1837
steam1842
split1844
rustle1882
to work like a demon1884
yank1888
go-at-it1904
to go somea1911
to put a jerk in it1919
to go (also do) one's (also a) dinger1923
to work (etc.) one's ass off1924
to go to town1933
to gie (or give) it laldy1974
1842 C. Fox Jrnl. 29 May (1882) viii. 156 Steamed away to London Bridge and saw the Maurices.
1849 C. Fox Jrnl. 13 June xv. 244 Steamed to Chelsea, and paid Mrs. Carlyle a humane little visit.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. vii. 167 Young Brooke..then steams away for the run in, in which he's sure to be first.
1911 Concise Oxf. Dict. Steam v...(colloq.) work vigorously, make great progress, esp. s. ahead, away.
II. transitive.
8. † b. figurative. (Cf. evaporate v.)
a. To exhale (steam or other vapour); to emit, send out in the form of vapour. Also with adverbs, as forth, away, up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [verb (transitive)] > emit as fumes or vapour
vapourc1430
fume1563
exhalea1628
vaporatea1640
steam1666
outgas1971
off-gas1979
1666 Bp. S. Parker Free Censvre Platonick Philos. (1667) 208 The Earth may steam forth vapours grosse enough to cloud the Sun.
1730 J. Thomson Autumn in Seasons 150 The mighty bowl, Swell'd high with fiery juice, steams liberal round A potent gale.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Palace of Art (rev. ed.) in Poems (new ed.) I. 138 Tossing up A cloud of incense of all odour steam'd From out a golden cup.
1862 J. Oxenford Somebody's Luggage: His Umbrella in All Year Round Extra Christmas No., 4 Dec. 14/2 The gingham article that lay open before me, steaming away its moisture.
1871 G. MacDonald Wks. Fancy & Imagination III. 39 The moorland pond is steaming A mist of gray and blue.
ΚΠ
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. vi. sig. R5v Howe ill did him beseme In slouthfull sleepe his molten hart to steme.
9.
a. To apply steam to, expose to the action of steam; to treat with steam for the purpose of softening, cooking, heating, disinfecting, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > cook [verb (transitive)] > steam
steam1798
pressure-cook1922
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > subjection or exposure to heat or fire > subject or expose to heat or fire [verb (transitive)] > steam
steam1798
1798 Trans. Soc. Arts 16 208 Potatoes that are either broiled or steamed.
1840 Mechanics' Mag. 33 498/1 The wood to be operated on, is first steamed, until it acquires such softness and pliancy, that it can be cut or blocked..into the different forms required.
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist 210 A pipe..by which, whenever the water boils, the house may be steamed.
1844 E. A. Parnell's Appl. Chem. I. 370 [Calico-printing.] The cotton requires to be steamed about thirty minutes.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 757 It is usually recommended to steam the face over hot water.
b. To expose (a gummed packet) to the action of steam in order to soften the gum. to steam open, to open by this method. Similarly, to steam (a postage stamp, label, etc.) off.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [verb (transitive)] > emit as fumes or vapour > expose (gummed paper) to steam
steam1899
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > open [verb (transitive)] > unseal > by steaming
steam1899
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > by steaming
to steam (a postage stamp, label, etc.) off1944
1899 G. B. Burgin Bread of Tears i. ii. 35 He had steamed it over a jar of hot water, read the contents, and reclosed the letter.
1911 M. Beerbohm Zuleika Dobson xiv. 212 She might easily steam open the envelope and master its contents.
1920 M. Webb House in Dormer Forest xvi. 214 The kettle having complied, she began to steam the letter open.
1944 R. Lehmann Ballad & Source i. vi. 49 She used to send us postcards... We steamed the stamps off.
1979 ‘J. le Carré’ Smiley's People (1980) xix. 242 I can still tap your phone, steam open your mail.
c. To fill with ‘steam’ or warm odour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > [verb (transitive)]
breathe1532
flavour1542
season1559
smellc1595
resent1602
stop1607
fling1637
tinge1690
savour1832
odorize1857
steam1861
1861 Two Cosmos II. v. viii. 191 Chops, steaks, toasted cheese, and almost all descriptions of drink steamed the whole apartment.
d. To bedew (a surface) with vesicles of condensed vapour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > make wet [verb (transitive)] > with drops > of condensed vapour
steam1860
1860 All Year Round 11 Feb. 362 Glass, already opaquely steamed with youthful breath.
e. steam calico-printing. To fix (colours) by the steam-process.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > colouring > dyeing > dye [verb (transitive)] > fix dye
set1601
fix1665
strike1769
age1830
mordant1839
pad1839
steam calico-printing1862
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > surface and planographic printing > other surface-printing > [verb (transitive)] > textiles > fix colours
steam calico-printing1862
1862 C. O'Neill Dict. Calico Printing at Steam colours The process of steaming colours.
10. To convey on a steam-vessel. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > transport by water [verb (transitive)] > in specific type of craft or by specific propulsion
rowa1470
boat1508
keel1599
barge1652
raft1667
drog1681
sculler1682
paddle1784
punt1818
scull1827
wherry1827
yawl1884
steam1891
submarine1918
gondolier1936
1891 C. MacEwen Three Women in Boat xv. 115 We will just..let him steam us back.
11. Colloquial with up.
a. To stir up or rouse (ardour, etc.). rare.
ΚΠ
1919 F. Hurst Humoresque 97 Ed says he'd never get him to steam up his nerve enough to call at a girl's house after her.
1931 Daily Express 21 Sept. 19/2 He was trying to steam up interest in the contest.
b. To rouse or excite (a person), esp. to anger; to agitate, upset.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > exciting > excite [verb (transitive)]
astirc1000
stir?c1225
araisec1374
entalentc1374
flamec1380
reara1382
raisec1384
commove1393
kindlea1400
fluster1422
esmove1474
talent1486
heavec1540
erect?1555
inflame1560
to set on gog1560
yark1565
tickle1567
flesh1573
concitate1574
rouse1574
warmc1580
agitate1587
spirit1598
suscitate1598
fermentate1599
nettle1599
startle1602
worka1616
exagitate1621
foment1621
flush1633
exacuatea1637
ferment1667
to work up1681
pique1697
electrify1748
rattle1781
pump1791
to touch up1796
excite1821
to key up1835
to steam up1909
jazz1916
steam1922
volt1930
whee1949
to fire up1976
geek1984
the mind > emotion > anger > [verb (transitive)] > make angry
wrethec900
abelgheeOE
abaeileOE
teenOE
i-wrathec1075
wratha1200
awratha1250
gramec1275
forthcalla1300
excitea1340
grieve1362
movea1382
achafea1400
craba1400
angerc1400
mada1425
provokec1425
forwrecchec1450
wrothc1450
arage1470
incensea1513
puff1526
angry1530
despite1530
exasperate1534
exasper1545
stunt1583
pepper1599
enfever1647
nanger1675
to put or set up the back1728
roil1742
outrage1818
to put a person's monkey up1833
to get one's back up1840
to bring one's nap up1843
rouse1843
to get a person's shirt out1844
heat1855
to steam up1860
to get one's rag out1862
steam1922
to burn up1923
to flip out1964
1922 H. C. Witwer in Collier's 17 June 22/4 Are you asking me to go with you so's to steam Rags Dempster up?
1964 P. G. Wodehouse Frozen Assets iii. 61 She's one of those calm, quiet girls you'd think nothing would steam up.
a1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1977) III. 366 The Department have steamed me up into the idea that I have got a terrible series of difficulties here.
12. With up: Agriculture, to subject (an animal) to steaming up (see steaming n. 5).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > providing or receiving food > feeding animals > [verb (transitive)] > fatten
masteOE
fatc1386
frankc1440
to set up1540
fatten1552
feed1552
cram1577
engrease1583
to raise in flesh1608
adipate1623
saginate1623
batten1638
to stall to1764
tallow1765
to fat off1789
to make up1794
higglea1825
finish1841
force1847
to feed off1852
steam1947
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > [verb (transitive)] > fatten
masteOE
fatc1386
to set up1540
fatten1552
feed1552
forcea1571
cram1577
engrease1583
to raise in flesh1608
saginate1623
to stall to1764
tallow1765
stall-feed1766
graze1787
to fat off1789
to make up1794
higglea1825
finish1841
to feed off1852
steam1947
1947 V. C. Fishwick Dairy Farming ii. 164 We steam-up our heifers and cows, and feed a balanced milk-production ration during the lactation period.
1959 Observer 15 Nov. 3/1 There are no special hazards in artificial twinning provided that the cow is generously fed—steamed up as it is called in farming language—before calving.
1969 N. W. Pirie Food Resources iii. 104 The extreme case is the process known as ‘steaming up’ or ‘flushing’ ewes before mating. The extra food given..increases the probability of conception.
Draft additions 1993
d. to steam in, to start or join a fight. slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > fight [verb (intransitive)] > start or join a fight
mix1895
to steam in1961
to throw down1979
1961 New Statesman 14 Apr. 576/2 As the underworld put it, ‘he steamed in like a slag and roughed them up as he topped them’.
1976 Scotsman 24 Dec. 15/1 As an amateur, Hope used to come to the gym and spar with Charles. He used to steam in and, if only for self protection, Charles was obliged to spank him sometimes.
1987 Daily Mail 2 Sept. 6/3 The term [steaming] was coined..from the Cockney slang ‘to steam in’, used when a group of youths pile in for a fight.
Draft additions 1993
e. colloquial. To perform the action of steaming n. Additions.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > rob [verb (transitive)] > attack and rob
huff1832
garrotte1858
mug1864
to jack up1965
steam1987
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > rob [verb (intransitive)] > attack and rob > by force of numbers
steam1987
1987 Daily Mail 2 Sept. 6/5 Usually unemployed and young,..they steam en masse into shops or on to buses, seize what they want from their victims and then break up.
1988 Daily Tel. 13 Feb. 3/1 A gang of 25 knife-wielding black youths..‘steamed’ through a late-night suburban British Rail train.
1989 Times 14 July 3/6 Several members of a mob of young robbers who ‘steamed’ through crowds at the Notting Hill Carnival in 1987 were jailed yesterday.
Draft additions 1993
13. colloquial. To subject (a place or those in it) to, make (one's way) by, steaming (see steaming n. Additions). rare.
ΚΠ
1987 Daily Tel. 2 Sept. 11/7 Crowds of youths ‘from nowhere’, never seen at Notting Hill before, could be seen from the stall, ‘steaming’ and pillaging their way through crowds of revellers.
1987 Times 13 Nov. 21/6 Late-night passengers on the Underground found themselves being steamed. A gang of about 20 youths went from carriage to carriage, threatening and robbing passengers.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.OE
v.OE