What does "steam" mean?
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).
Steam
/stiːm/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: 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).
- Grammar: steam is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: accelerate, aerate, aerify, afterdamp.
- Useful contrasts: charbroiled, liquid waters, pure liquid water.
- Usage evidence: Teachers should occasionally let their students blow off some steam.
How to use "steam"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "steam" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "steam" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "steam" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "steam" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "steam" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "accelerate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "steam", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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). uncountable, usually
- 2 Initialism of serial time-encoded amplified microscopy. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
- 3 water at boiling temperature diffused in the atmosphere wordnet
- 4 The suspended condensate (cloud) formed by water vapour when it encounters colder air.; Mist, fog. uncountable, usually
- 5 Abbreviation of science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, a grouping of several fields of education. abbreviation, alt-of, uncountable
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 The suspended condensate (cloud) formed by water vapour when it encounters colder air.; Exhaled breath into cold air below the dew point of the exhalation. uncountable, usually
- 7 Pressurized water vapour used for heating, cooking, or to provide mechanical energy. uncountable, usually
- 8 The act of cooking by steaming. uncountable, usually
"Give the carrots a ten-minute steam."
- 9 Internal energy for progress or motive power. figuratively, uncountable, usually
"After three weeks in bed he was finally able to sit up under his own steam."
- 10 Pent-up anger. figuratively, uncountable, usually
"Dad had to go outside to blow off some steam."
- 11 A steam-powered vehicle, referring to their use. uncountable, usually
"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 jettisoning the features that have given trouble, in particular the chain-driven valve-motion, should give the Southern a supply of highly-competent machines able to last out the remaining life of steam on the S.R."
- 12 Travel by means of a steam-powered vehicle. uncountable, usually
- 13 Any exhalation. obsolete, uncountable, usually
"a steam of rich, distilled perfumes"
- 14 Fencing without the use of any electric equipment. uncountable, usually
Verb
- 1 To cook with steam. transitive
"The best way to cook artichokes is to steam them."
- 2 cook something by letting steam pass over it wordnet
- 3 To be cooked with steam. figuratively, intransitive
"The artichokes are steaming in the pot."
- 4 clean by means of steaming wordnet
- 5 To expose to the action of steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing, or preparing. transitive
"to steam wood or cloth"
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 get very agitated or angry wordnet
- 7 To raise steam, e.g. in a steam locomotive. transitive
""We will give 198 a full exam. Then steam her, and operate her for the rest of the season."
- 8 travel by means of steam power wordnet
- 9 To produce or vent steam. intransitive
"See, ſee, my Brother's Ghoſt hangs hovering there, / O're his vvarm Blood, that ſteems into the Air, / Revenge, Revenge it cries."
- 10 rise as vapor wordnet
- 11 To rise in vapour; to issue, or pass off, as vapour. intransitive
"Our breath steamed in the cold winter air."
- 12 emit steam wordnet
- 13 To become angry; to fume; to be incensed. figuratively, intransitive
- 14 To make angry. figuratively, transitive
"It really steams me to see her treat him like that."
- 15 To cover with condensed water vapor. transitive
"With all the heavy breathing going on the windows were quickly steamed in the car."
- 16 To travel by means of steam power. intransitive
"We steamed around the Mediterranean."
- 17 To move with great or excessive purposefulness. figuratively, literally
"If he heard of anyone picking the fruit he would steam off and lecture them."
- 18 To exhale. obsolete
"like inward fire that outward smoke had steemd"
Adjective
- 1 Old-fashioned; from before the digital age. not-comparable
"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""
Antonyms
Example
"Teachers should occasionally let their students blow off some steam."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "steam"?
Common synonyms include: accelerate, aerate, aerify, afterdamp, agua, amperage.
How do you use "steam" in a sentence?
Teachers should occasionally let their students blow off some steam.
How do you pronounce "steam"?
Pronounced /stiːm/.
Etymology
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”).