Library / English Dictionary

STREAM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression

Synonyms:

flow; stream

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("stream" is a kind of...):

motion; move; movement (the act of changing location from one place to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stream"):

release; spill; spillage (the act of allowing a fluid to escape)

flood; outpouring; overflow (a large flow)

Derivation:

stream (flow freely and abundantly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A steady flow of a fluid (usually from natural causes)

Example:

the hose ejected a stream of water

Synonyms:

current; stream

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("stream" is a kind of...):

flow; flowing (the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stream"):

tidal current; tidal flow (the water current caused by the tides)

rip current; riptide (a strong surface current flowing outwards from a shore)

undercurrent; undertide (a current below the surface of a fluid)

torrent; violent stream (a violently fast stream of water (or other liquid))

eddy; twist (a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind resulting when the current of a fluid doubles back on itself)

maelstrom; vortex; whirlpool (a powerful circular current of water (usually the result of conflicting tides))

ocean current (the steady flow of surface ocean water in a prevailing direction)

Derivation:

stream (flow freely and abundantly)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Dominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive events or ideas

Example:

the current of history

Synonyms:

current; flow; stream

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("stream" is a kind of...):

course; line (a connected series of events or actions or developments)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth

Synonyms:

stream; watercourse

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("stream" is a kind of...):

body of water; water (the part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean))

Meronyms (parts of "stream"):

meander (a bend or curve, as in a stream or river)

midstream (the middle of a stream)

crossing; ford (a shallow area in a stream that can be forded)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stream"):

tidal river; tidal stream; tidewater river; tidewater stream (a stream in which the effects of the tide extend far upstream)

rill; rivulet; run; runnel; streamlet (a small stream)

river (a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek))

headstream (a stream that forms the source of a river)

brook; creek (a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river))

branch (a stream or river connected to a larger one)

Derivation:

stream (flow freely and abundantly)

streamlet (a small stream)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously

Example:

the museum had planned carefully for the flow of visitors

Synonyms:

flow; stream

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("stream" is a kind of...):

motion (a state of change)

Derivation:

stream (move in large numbers)

stream (to extend, wave or float outward, as if in the wind)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Exude profusely

Example:

His nose streamed blood

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "stream" is one way to...):

exudate; exude; ooze; ooze out; transude (release (a liquid) in drops or small quantities)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move in large numbers

Example:

beggars pullulated in the plaza

Synonyms:

pour; pullulate; stream; swarm; teem

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "stream" is one way to...):

crowd; crowd together (to gather together in large numbers)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stream"):

pour out; spill out; spill over (be disgorged)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

stream (something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Flow freely and abundantly

Example:

Tears streamed down her face

Synonyms:

stream; well out

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "stream" is one way to...):

course; feed; flow; run (move along, of liquids)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stream"):

spin (stream in jets, of liquids)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

stream (the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression)

stream (a steady flow of a fluid (usually from natural causes))

stream (a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth)

Sense 4

Meaning:

To extend, wave or float outward, as if in the wind

Example:

their manes streamed like stiff black pennants in the wind

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "stream" is one way to...):

be adrift; blow; drift; float (be in motion due to some air or water current)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

stream (something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Rain heavily

Example:

Put on your rain coat-- it's pouring outside!

Synonyms:

pelt; pour; rain buckets; rain cats and dogs; stream

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Hypernyms (to "stream" is one way to...):

rain; rain down (precipitate as rain)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stream"):

sheet (come down as if in sheets)

sluice; sluice down (pour as if from a sluice)

Sentence frame:

It is ----ing

Sentence example:

It was streaming all day long

Credits

 Context examples: 

Dorset in the UK is home to highly acidic sulphur streams that host bacteria which thrive in extreme conditions.

(Red Planet May Have Harbored Life in Past, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Then the princess was so thirsty that she got off her horse, and lay down, and held her head over the running stream, and cried and said, “What will become of me?”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Computers can learn to find solar flares in vast streams of images and help scientists issue timely space weather alerts, according to a new study.

(Detecting solar flares in real time, National Science Foundation)

She looked at Martin in horror, and her heavy limbs shrank under the golden stream as though it were burning her.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Neurons in the eye and brain receive a constant stream of information.

(Eye cells may use math to detect motion, NIH)

The researchers asked 12 participants to view a stream of images that included faces and houses.

(How the brain pays attention to faces and places, NIH)

She was a big woman, and had long black hair: we could see it streaming against the flames as she stood.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The velocity at which a component leaves the center solvent stream is dependent on its physical characteristics.

(Field Flow Fractionation, NCI Thesaurus)

Again the rope was attached and he was launched, and again he struck out, but this time straight into the stream.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Oaths rolled from his lips in a continuous stream.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)