abeamadv.
/əˈbiːm/, U.S. /əˈbim/ Nautical.
On a line at right angles to a ship's course; opposite the middle of a vessel. Later also of an aircraft. Cf. beam n.1 17.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > side(s) of vessel > [adverb] > at right angles to beam
abeam1789
1789 A. Schomberg Sea Man. ii. 114 Care should be taken, as much as possible, to keep abeam of the Enemy's Line.
1789 E. Riou Jrnl. 24 Dec. in Last Voy. of Guardian (1990) 64 We had run at the rate of 6 or 7 knots with the wind abeam.
1836 M. Scott Cruise of Midge i. 20 ‘What is that abeam of us?’ said Mr. Sprawl, who had now come up deck.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) xii. 29 Cape Farewell was on our starboard quarter, and the Land of Desolation nearly abeam.
1912 C. C. Turner Romance Aeronaut. xxvii. 282 When flying with a wind abeam the strain caused by gusts affects the machine transversely.
1972 F. Mowat Whale for Killing i. 19 As we came abeam of Boar Island,..our engine failed.
1998 Yachts & Yachting 17 Apr. 68/1 ‘Silk Cut’ has pulled abeam while we seemed to be ‘stuck’ on the bad side of a line.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.1789