STEAM

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does steam mean? 

• STEAM (noun)
  The noun STEAM has 1 sense:

1. water at boiling temperature diffused in the atmosphere

  Familiarity information: STEAM used as a noun is very rare.

• STEAM (verb)
  The verb STEAM has 6 senses:

1. travel by means of steam power

2. emit steam

3. rise as vapor

4. get very angry

5. clean by means of steaming

6. cook something by letting steam pass over it

  Familiarity information: STEAM used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STEAM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Water at boiling temperature diffused in the atmosphere

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("steam" is a kind of...):

vapor; vapour (a visible suspension in the air of particles of some substance)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "steam"):

live steam (steam coming from a boiler at full pressure)

Derivation:

steam (cook something by letting steam pass over it)

steam (clean by means of steaming)

• STEAM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they steam    ... he / she / it steams   
Past simple: steamed   
Past participle: steamed   
-ing form: steaming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Travel by means of steam power

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

steam; steamer

Context example:

The ship steamed off into the Pacific

Hypernyms (to "steam" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Domain category:

navigation; pilotage; piloting (the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

steamer (a ship powered by one or more steam engines)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Emit steam

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Context example:

The rain forest was literally steaming

Hypernyms (to "steam" is one way to...):

emit; give off; give out (give off, send forth, or discharge; as of light, heat, or radiation, vapor, etc.)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Rise as vapor

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "steam" is one way to...):

arise; come up; go up; lift; move up; rise; uprise (move upward)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Get very angry

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

her indifference to his amorous advances really steamed the young man

Hypernyms (to "steam" is one way to...):

anger; see red (become angry)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

Clean by means of steaming

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

steam; steam clean

Context example:

steam-clean the upholstered sofa

Hypernyms (to "steam" is one way to...):

clean; make clean (make clean by removing dirt, filth, or unwanted substances from)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

steam (water at boiling temperature diffused in the atmosphere)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Cook something by letting steam pass over it

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

just steam the vegetables

Hypernyms (to "steam" is one way to...):

cook (transform and make suitable for consumption by heating)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The chefs steam the vegetables

Derivation:

steam (water at boiling temperature diffused in the atmosphere)

steamer (a cooking utensil that can be used to cook food by steaming it)

steamer (a clam that is usually steamed in the shell)

 Context examples 

The door opened, and, gazing out of his cloud of steam, he saw a man and a woman pausing on the threshold.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

A device that uses steam under high pressure to sterilize medical and laboratory supplies and equipment.

(Autoclave, NCI Dictionary)

On days when there was much steam to his cooking, the harvest of veneer from the bureau was unusually generous.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The marsh was steaming in the strong sun, and the outline of the Spy-glass trembled through the haze.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“A house on fire?” asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off again on its way.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He wheeled round upon his stool, with a steaming test-tube in his hand, and a gleam of amusement in his deep-set eyes.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A thick steam rose from the two fighters, and the ring was a pool of mud.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A humidifier or steam can also help.

(Acute Bronchitis, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

This substance does not break down in an autoclave (a device that uses steam under high pressure to sterilize medical and laboratory supplies and equipment).

(Autoclave-resistant factor, NCI Dictionary)

Fourteen boats require a considerable spread of ocean for comfortable hunting, and when she had completely lapped our line she continued steaming into the north-east, dropping more boats as she went.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)