steam

UK/stiːm//stiːm/

steam 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).

Image: Robby! from Denver, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

steam (usually uncountable, plural steams)

(usually) 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).
(usually) Mist, fog.
(usually) Exhaled breath into cold air below the dew point of the exhalation.
(usually) Pressurized water vapour used for heating, cooking, or to provide mechanical energy.
(usually) The act of cooking by steaming.
- Give the carrots a ten-minute steam.
(figuratively, usually) Internal 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
Synonyms:

stamina
(figuratively, usually) Pent-up anger.
- Dad had to go outside to blow off some steam.
(usually) A steam-powered vehicle, referring to their use.
- Among the most modern of all the Pacific stock in Great Britain is the stud of "Merchant Navy" and "West Country" Pacifics on the Southern Region, and the rebuilding which is now being carried out, preserving all the best features of the Bulleid designs—such as the free-steaming boiler—and...1957 July, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 496
- 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
Synonyms:

steamer
(usually) Travel by means of a steam-powered vehicle.
(obsolete, usually) Any exhalation.
- a steam of rich, distilled perfumes1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey...
(usually) Fencing without the use of any electric equipment.

Verb

steam (third-person singular simple present steams, present participle steaming, simple past and past participle steamed)

(transitive) To cook with steam.
- The best way to cook artichokes is to steam them.
(figuratively, intransitive, literal) To be cooked with steam.
- The artichokes are steaming in the pot.
- I'm steaming in this coat.
(transitive) To expose to the action of steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing, or preparing.
- to steam wood or cloth
(transitive) To raise steam, e.g. in a steam locomotive.
- Until recently the mainstay of the line were four 2-8-2 + 2-8-2 Garratts, built for its opening. 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
- "We will give 198 a full exam. 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
(intransitive) To produce or vent steam.
- See, ſee, my Brother's Ghoſt hangs hovering there, / O're his vvarm Blood, that ſteems into the Air, / Revenge, Revenge it cries.1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act III...
- I found that the Chapelon steamed almost too freely, because on a strange locomotive and road one usually tends to overfire a little through a natural lack of confidence.1961 February, 'Balmore', “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives - Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 110
(intransitive) To rise in vapour; to issue, or pass off, as vapour.
- Our breath steamed in the cold winter air.
- [T]he diſſolved Amber vvas plainly diſcernable ſvvimming like a thin film upon the ſurface of the Liquor, vvhence little by little it ſteamed avvay into the air.1661, Robert Boyle, “[Two Essays, Concerning the Unsuccessfulness of Experiments, Containing Divers Admonitions and Observations (Chiefly Chymical) Touching that Subject.] The First Essay, of the...
(figuratively, intransitive) To become angry; to fume; to be incensed.
(figuratively, transitive) To make angry.
- It really steams me to see her treat him like that.
(transitive) To cover with condensed water vapor.
- With all the heavy breathing going on the windows were quickly steamed in the car.
- A strong sirocco was blowing the spray from the waves as far as the little café, whose glass doors were shut. The café reeked of brewing sage and human beings whose breath steamed the windows because of the cold outside.1952, Nikos Kazantzakis, chapter 1, in Carl Wildman, transl., Zorba the Greek, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, translation of Βίος και πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά [Víos kai politeía tou Aléxi...
(intransitive) To travel by means of steam power.
- We steamed around the Mediterranean.
- The ship steamed out of the harbour.
(figuratively, literally) To move with great or excessive purposefulness.
- If he heard of anyone picking the fruit he would steam off and lecture them.
- The No on 35 drive garnered the support of Black, Asian, and progressive church communities, and steamed to victory with 58 percent of the vote on Nov. 6.1990 December 16, Chris Nealon, “Washhington Paper Celebrates Les/Gay Unions”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 22, page 6
(obsolete) To exhale.
- like inward fire that outward smoke had steemd1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

Adjective

steam (not comparable)

Old-fashioned; from before the digital age.
- Tom Earle, a CBC radio veteran now compiling audio archives in Ottawa, used to refer to the medium in which he worked as "steam radio"1989 December 30, “Despite the era's technological marvels, 'wireless' is still magic”, in Toronto Star
- Unlike the Web, old-fashioned steam television must be viewed in sequence in order to pick out those rare bits of useful information.2000 January 10, Bill Pannifer, “Sore eyes”, in The Independent

Noun (2) capitalized: STEAM

STEAM (uncountable)

(abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of serial time-encoded amplified microscopy.
(abbreviation) Abbreviation of science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, a grouping of several fields of education.

steam meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

steam in Hindi

water vapor: भाप bhāp, वाष्प vāṣp

steam in Marathi

water vapor: वाफ vāph
cooking: to cook with steam: वाफेवर शिजवणे vāphevar śijavṇe
to produce or vent steam: वाफ निघणे vāph nighṇe

steam in Urdu

water vapor: بھاپ bhāp

More languagesFewer languages

steam in Bengali: বাষ্প baśpo, ভাপ bhap, ধূম dhum
steam in Telugu: ఆవిరి āviri, నీటి ఆవిరి nīṭi āviri
steam in Malayalam: നീരാവി, നീരാവി ചെയ്യാൻ
steam in Kannada: ಆವರಿ āvari
steam in Punjabi: ਭਾਫ bhāph
steam in Gujarati: વરાળ varāḷ
steam in Odia: ବାଷ୍ପ bāṣpa
steam in Sanskrit: वाष्प vāṣpa
steam in Assamese: ভাপ bhap, ভাপত দে bhapot de
steam in Nepali: वाफ wāph
steam in Pashto: بخار boxār
steam in Tagalog: tubingaw
steam in Arabic: بُخَار buḵār
steam in Malay: wap, stim, kukus
steam in Indonesian: kukus, uap, kukus uap, setom
steam in Persian: بخار boxâr, وشم vašm, بخار آب boxâr-e âb, دمه dame
steam in Thai: ไอน้ำ ai-náam, นึ่ง nʉ̂ng
steam in Vietnamese: hơi, hơi nước, hấp
steam in Myanmar: ရေငွေ့ re-ngwe., အငွေ့ a.ngwe.
Sindhi: बा॒फ

Examples of steam in a sentence

Them that puts the most steam into it will get a finnuf slipped to 'em.1927, Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb, Ladies and Gentlemen, page 129:
Goin’ to steam to China via the south pole?”1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 112:
That was the hard work largely done as the Ivorian waited for Malouda to steam into the box before releasing a simple crossed pass which the Frenchman side-footed home with aplomb.2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC:
In the old days of steam journalism, after cleft sticks had been phased out but before the advent of e-mail, there used to be a fairly sure-fire way of getting your story to the news desk.2002 September 5, Alex Kirby, “Summit diary: Aftermath”, in BBC News:

All 40 example sentences with steam

Synonyms of steam

Antonyms

electric

Forms of steam

Noun
plural	steams
Verb
third-person singular present	steams
present participle	steaming
past participle	steamed
past	steamed

Past tense of steam: steamed

Plural of steam: steams

Origin of steam

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”). Cognate with Scots stem, steam (“steam”), West Frisian steam (“steam, vapour”), Dutch stoom (“steam, vapour”), Low German stom (“steam”), Swedish dialectal stimma (“steam, fog”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”).

Words formed from steam

Phrases with steam

100 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with steam

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about 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).
What is steam in Hindi?: Steam in Hindi is भाप (bhāp), वाष्प (vāṣp). See Steam meaning in Hindi.
How do you use steam in a sentence?: Them that puts the most steam into it will get a finnuf slipped to 'em.
What part of speech is steam?: Steam can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce steam?: Steam is pronounced /stiːm/ (UK).
What is the plural of steam?: The plural of steam is steams.

Words near steam in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: steam (page history and authors); STEAM (page history and authors); steam (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: En-us-steam.ogg.

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