abeam

/əˈbiːm/US/əˈbim/

abeam adverb: on the beam; at a right angle to the centerline or keel of a vessel or aircraft; being at a bearing approximately 90° or 270° relative.

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Adverb

abeam (comparative more abeam, superlative most abeam)

(aircraft) On the beam; at a right angle to the centerline or keel of a vessel or aircraft; being at a bearing approximately 90° or 270° relative.
- We were heading S.S.W., and had a steady breeze abeam and a quiet sea.1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “'”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook), page 83
- […] waves striking the ship abeam pushed her always south of their new course, and rolled her, and filled her with water so that bailing must be ceaseless […]1968, Ursula K. LeGuin, chapter 2, in A Wizard of Earthsea, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, published 2012, page 36
(aircraft) Alongside or abreast; opposite the center of the side of the ship or aircraft.

Adjective (1)

abeam (comparative more abeam, superlative most abeam)

(aircraft) Alongside or abreast; opposite the center of the side of the ship or aircraft.
- The island was directly abeam of us.
- The sound shifted its place markedly, but without coming nearer. It even grew a little more distant right abeam of the lighter, and then ceased again.1904, Joseph Conrad, chapter 8, in Nostromo, New York: Harper, page 311

Preposition

abeam

Alongside.
- She came abeam the crippled ship.

Adjective (2)

abeam (not comparable)

Beaming, shining (especially with reference to a person's face or eyes).
- […] the hearts of the saints [will] be all attention and their faces all abeam for the consolation;1876, William Davidson, Sermons on the Parables, Cincinnati: Western Tract Society, Sermon 1, p. 41
- […] the waiters fly about abeam with good will and on excellent terms with those they serve […]1906, Miriam Michelson, chapter 9, in A Yellow Journalist,, New York: D. Appleton, page 199

Examples of abeam in a sentence

The attack on the abeam ship, Louisville, killed Commander Cruiser Division Four […]2005, William Thomas Generous, Sweet Pea at War: A History of USS Portland, →ISBN, page 178:
When we met for another lunch […] he was all abeam with pride as he handed me a newly minted paperback reissue of Wodehouse […]2011, Christopher Buckley, “Christopher Hitchens”, in But Enough About You: Essays, New York: Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 227:

Forms of abeam

Adverb
comparative	more abeam
superlative	most abeam
Adjective
comparative	more abeam
superlative	most abeam

Origin of abeam

From a- (“in the direction of”) + beam (“keel”).

From a- + beam (“to emit beams of light”).

Words that rhyme with abeam

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about abeam

What does abeam mean?: Abeam means on the beam; at a right angle to the centerline or keel of a vessel or aircraft; being at a bearing approximately 90° or 270° relative.
How do you use abeam in a sentence?: The attack on the abeam ship, Louisville, killed Commander Cruiser Division Four […]
What part of speech is abeam?: Abeam can be an adverb, an adjective or a preposition.
How do you pronounce abeam?: Abeam is pronounced /əˈbiːm/ (UK).

Words near abeam in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: abeam (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-abeam.wav.

Cite this entry: “abeam.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/abeam. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.