Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use steam in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb, adjective

Steam means 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). Example: “Give the carrots a ten-minute steam.”

Examples of steam by meaning

nounThe act of cooking by steaming.

  • Give the carrots a ten-minute steam.

nounInternal energy for progress or motive power.

  • After three weeks in bed he was finally able to sit up under his own steam.
  • run out of steam
  • Them that puts the most steam into it will get a finnuf slipped to 'em.1927, Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb, Ladies and Gentlemen, page 129

nounPent-up anger.

  • Dad had to go outside to blow off some steam.

nounA steam-powered vehicle, referring to their use.

  • Steam also takes charge of South Eastern (former P.L.M.) trains from Paris to Marseilles and the Riviera from Lyons onwards, and of Western Region trains from Le Mans onwards, as also between Paris and Dieppe and Le Havre.1958 July, 'Voyageur', “Modern French Locomotive Work—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 455

verbTo cook with steam.

  • The best way to cook artichokes is to steam them.

verbTo be cooked with steam.

  • The artichokes are steaming in the pot.
  • I'm steaming in this coat.

verbTo expose to the action of steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing, or preparing.

  • to steam wood or cloth

verbTo raise steam, e.g. in a steam locomotive.

  • One is still steamed regularly, and there is no intention of breaking up the others, but the line has now been dieselised.1960 April, H. P. White, “The Railways of Sierra Leone”, in Railway Magazine, page 284
  • Then steam her, and operate her for the rest of the season.2023 July 12, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Saved: Trust protects Adrian Shooter's legacy”, in RAIL, number 987, page 28

More sentences with steam

  • The radioactivity was released when they blew off steam from the containment vessel.From the entry blow off
  • The steam engine was the predecessor of diesel and electric locomotives.From the entry predecessor
  • Don't take it personally when he shouts like that. He's just blowing off steam.From the entry blow off steam
  • I told her she could call me and talk any time she wanted to blow off steam.From the entry blow off steam
  • The early twentieth century was the heyday of the steam locomotive.From the entry heyday
  • Steaming is fine for this fabric, as long as you keep the iron moving.From the entry steaming
  • Steaming was their preferred way to travel until airliners came along.From the entry steaming
  • A low-pressure steam pipe is not as dangerous as a high-pressure one.From the entry low-pressure
  • After two of the team left, the project rather ran out of steam.From the entry run out of steam
  • Steamfitting can be a dangerous task, because the steam is under great pressure.From the entry steamfitting
  • A nostalgic journey by steam makes even a business trip an excursion.From the entry by steam
  • Watch out — the chrome parts of the car are steaming hot from the sun.From the entry steaming hot
  • Leave the vegetables to steam for the 20 minutes cooking time.From the entry cooking time
  • Let the engine build up a good head of steam.From the entry head
  • The steam train whistled as it passed by.From the entry whistle
  • The locomotive got up a good head of steam.From the entry get up
  • Steam hissed from the old iron radiator.From the entry radiator
  • Seeing a steam engine in action is increasingly rare.From the entry in action
  • Chicken arrabbiata was served on steaming fettuccine.From the entry arrabbiata
  • The pistons are driven by steam power.From the entry steam power
  • Before the diesel locomotive, steam power was king.From the entry steam power
  • A steam turbine converts heat into rotational motion.From the entry rotational
  • After climbing six flights of stairs she found she had run out of steam and had to sit down.From the entry run out of steam
  • The Nineteenth Century innovated navigation by steam.From the entry by steam
  • It takes about an hour to steam up the locomotive.From the entry steam up
  • Engine 99 had been steaming up since 21:00.From the entry steam up
  • Don't touch that radiator! It's steaming hot!From the entry steaming hot
  • Usage note: When used alone it means outside lead, or lead for the admission of steam. Inside lead refers to the release or exhaust.From the entry lead

Meaning of steam

  1. noun 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).
  2. noun Mist, fog.
  3. noun Exhaled breath into cold air below the dew point of the exhalation.

Full definition of steam

Questions about steam in a sentence

How do you use steam in a sentence?
Steam is used as a noun, verb and adjective. For example: “Give the carrots a ten-minute steam.”
What is a short sentence with steam?
“run out of steam”
What does steam mean?
Steam means 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).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: steam (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use steam in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/steam. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.