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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Stream works

Stream \Stream\ (str[=e]m), n. [AS. stre['a]m; akin to OFries. str[=a]m, OS. str[=o]m, D. stroom, G. strom, OHG. stroum, str[=u]m, Dan. & Sw. str["o]m, Icel. straumr, Ir. sroth, Lith. srove, Russ. struia, Gr. "ry`sis a flowing, "rei^n to flow, Skr. sru. [root]174. Cf. Catarrh, Diarrhea, Rheum, Rhythm.]

  1. A current of water or other fluid; a liquid flowing continuously in a line or course, either on the earth, as a river, brook, etc., or from a vessel, reservoir, or fountain; specifically, any course of running water; as, many streams are blended in the Mississippi; gas and steam came from the earth in streams; a stream of molten lead from a furnace; a stream of lava from a volcano.

  2. A beam or ray of light. ``Sun streams.''
    --Chaucer.

  3. Anything issuing or moving with continued succession of parts; as, a stream of words; a stream of sand. ``The stream of beneficence.''
    --Atterbury. ``The stream of emigration.''
    --Macaulay.

  4. A continued current or course; as, a stream of weather. ``The very stream of his life.''
    --Shak.

  5. Current; drift; tendency; series of tending or moving causes; as, the stream of opinions or manners.

    Gulf stream. See under Gulf.

    Stream anchor, Stream cable. (Naut.) See under Anchor, and Cable.

    Stream ice, blocks of ice floating in a mass together in some definite direction.

    Stream tin, particles or masses of tin ore found in alluvial ground; -- so called because a stream of water is the principal agent used in separating the ore from the sand and gravel.

    Stream works (Cornish Mining), a place where an alluvial deposit of tin ore is worked.
    --Ure.

    To float with the stream, figuratively, to drift with the current of opinion, custom, etc., so as not to oppose or check it.

    Syn: Current; flow; rush; tide; course.

    Usage: Stream, Current. These words are often properly interchangeable; but stream is the broader word, denoting a prevailing onward course. The stream of the Mississippi rolls steadily on to the Gulf of Mexico, but there are reflex currents in it which run for a while in a contrary direction.