steam
The hot gaseous form of water, formed when water changes from the liquid phase to the gas phase (at or above its boiling point temperature).
Noun 4 meanings
The hot gaseous form of water, formed when water changes from the liquid phase to the gas phase (at or above its boiling point temperature).
The suspended condensate (cloud) formed by water vapour when it encounters colder air.
Pressurized water vapour used for heating, cooking, or to provide mechanical energy.
The act of cooking by steaming.
“Give the carrots a ten-minute steam.”
Verb 4 meanings
To cook with steam.
“The best way to cook artichokes is to steam them.”
To be cooked with steam.
“The artichokes are steaming in the pot.”
To expose to the action of steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing, or preparing.
“to steam wood or cloth”
To raise steam, e.g. in a steam locomotive.
Adjective 1 meaning
Old-fashioned; from before the digital age.
Etymology
From Middle English steem, stem, from Old English stēam (“steam, hot exhalation, hot breath; that which emits vapour; blood”), from Proto-Germanic *staumaz (“steam, vapour, breath”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to whirl, waft, stink, shake; steam, haze, smoke”).
Similar and opposite words
STEAM at a glance
STEAM has 5 letters and scores 7 points in Scrabble (S 1 + T 1 + E 1 + A 1 + M 3) and 8 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #2,855 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with steam
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