forebeam

Noun

forebeam (plural forebeams)

1. The breast beam of a loom.
   • They are sustained at bottom with other strong pieces of wood in the manner of trestles; and, to keep them the firmer, they are likewise fastened to the floor with a kind of buttresses, which prevent any shaking, though there are sometimes four or five workmen leaning on the forebeam at once.1861, William B. Dana, The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, page 377
   • {Just like the cloth that goes} from this side {of the loom, from the yarn-beam}, to that side over there {to the forebeam}, winding on there, and winding off here.2007, Markham (Mark) Geller, Mineke Schipper, Imagining Creation, page 253
2. A horizontal spar across the bow of some sailing vessels, used to stabilize the hulls of a catamaran, to secure a bowsprit, or to tie down the tack when there is no bowsprit.
   • And herein also her forebeam to which her bowsprit was fastened, cracked clean insunder; and some of her timbers likeways in the hold we found defective.1634 July 13, Thomas Young, Letter of Captain Thomas Young to Sir Toby Matthew
   • Schooner Ketcham returned to Chicago with foretopmast gone and forebeam sprung.1880, Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army to the Secretary of War for the year 1879, page 753
3. The support section of a robot arm that goes from the main body of the robot to the gripper.
   • The joints in the kinematic chain of a robot between the forebeam and end-effector are referred to as the wrist.2010, Reza N. Jazar, Theory of Applied Robotics: Kinematics, Dynamics, and Control, page 5
4. The leading portion of a remote signal from a moving source.
   • The upwind forebeam data, for F9L1R19 (flight 9, line 1 and run 19), F2L1R1 and F3L1R1, the corresponding surface wind velocities are 6 knots, 22.5 knots, and 33 knots respectively, were processed.1972, Sea Surface Topography from Space: Proceedings, pages 14-8
   • The signal is delivered and analysed by three sideways looking antennae; one pointing normal to the satellite flight path (midbeam antenna) and the two others pointing 45° forward (forebeam antenna) and 45° backward (aftbeam antenna) respectively (Francis et al, 1991).1994, IGARSS '94: International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, page 2480