beam-ends

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beam-ends

(bēm′ĕndz′)

pl.n. Nautical

The ends of a ship's beams.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

beam-ends

pl n

1. (Nautical Terms) the ends of a vessel's beams

2. (Nautical Terms) on her beam-ends (of a vessel) heeled over through an angle of 90°

3. on one's beam-ends

a. out of resources; destitute

b. desperate

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

beam′-ends`

n.pl.

the ends of the transverse deck beams of a ship.

Idioms:

1. on her beam-ends, (of a ship) heeled so far on one side that the deck is practically vertical.

2. on one's or the beam-ends, Slang. in desperate straits.

[1765–75]

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Noun

beam-ends - (nautical) at the ends of the transverse deck beams of a vessel; "on her beam-ends" means heeled over on the side so that the deck is almost vertical

sailing, seafaring, navigation - the work of a sailor

side, face - a surface forming part of the outside of an object; "he examined all sides of the crystal"; "dew dripped from the face of the leaf"

Translations

beam-ends

[ˌbiːmˈendz] NPL (Naut) → cabezas fpl de los baos (de un buque)
she was on her beam-ends (Naut) → el buque escoraba peligrosamente
they are on their beam-ends → están en un grave aprieto, no tienen donde caerse muertos

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

beam-ends

pl to be on one’s beam-ends (Naut) → starke Schlagseite haben; (Brit fig) → auf dem letzten Loch pfeifen (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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Leaning out of the window, and seeing one of the faces on the beam-ends looking at me sideways, I fancied it was Uriah Heep got up there somehow, and shut him out in a hurry.

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It began to be chill; the tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and more on her beam-ends.

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Unluckily, however, she "broached to," and was struck by a heavy sea, that hove her on her beam-ends. The helm, too, was knocked to leeward, all command of the vessel was lost, and another mountain wave completely overset her.