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stream

noun

  1. small moving body of water
  2. sequence of data elements made available over time
  3. basic orientation of an era, for example, in literature or music
  4. The act of moving like water down a path
L12139 on Wikidata ↗

verb

  1. move a fluid
  2. send data in real time over the internet
  3. move like water down a path
L12140 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈstɹiːm/ / [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷɪi̯m] ~ [ˈst̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷɪi̯m] / /ˈstɾim/

name

  1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English streem, strem, from Old English strēam, from Proto-West Germanic *straum, from Proto-Germanic *straumaz (“stream”), from Proto-Indo-European *srowmos (“river”), from Proto-Indo-European *srew- (“to flow”). Doublet of rheum. Cognate with Scots strem, streme, streym (“stream, river”), North Frisian Stroom, struum (“stream”), West Frisian stream (“stream”), Low German Stroom (“stream”), Dutch stroom (“current, flow, stream”), German Strom (“current, stream”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål strøm (“current, stream, flow”), Norwegian Nynorsk straum (“current, stream, flow”), Swedish ström (“current, stream, flow”), Faroese streymur (“stream”), Icelandic straumur (“current, stream, torrent, flood”), Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “stream, flow”), Lithuanian srovė (“current, stream”) Polish strumień (“stream”), Welsh ffrwd (“stream, current”), Scottish Gaelic sruth (“stream”).

  1. A small river; a large creek; a body of moving water confined by banks.

    “Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet:[…].”

    “European adventurers found themselves within a watery world, a tapestry of streams, channels, wetlands, lakes and lush riparian meadows enriched by floodwaters from the Mississippi River.”

  2. All moving waters.
  3. A thin connected passing of a liquid through a lighter gas (e.g. air).

    “He poured the milk in a thin stream from the jug to the glass.”

  4. Current, the force of moving water.

    “to swim against the stream”

  5. Any steady flow or succession of material, such as water, air, radio signal or words.

    “Her constant nagging was to him a stream of abuse.”

    “With a little manœuvring they contrived to meet on the doorstep which was […] in a boiling stream of passers-by, hurrying business people speeding past in a flurry of fumes and dust in the bright haze.”

  6. A particular path, channel, division, or way of proceeding.

    “Haredi Judaism is a stream of Orthodox Judaism characterized by rejection of modern secular culture.”

  7. A source or repository of data that can be read or written only sequentially.

    “In the context of computer science, lexical analysis can be defined as the conversion of a stream of characters to a stream of meaningful tokens.”

  8. Digital data (e.g. music or video) delivered in a continuous manner to a client computer, intended for immediate consumption or playback.

    “If your favorite Succession storylines involve the fictional ATN and network drama, give Apple TV’s The Morning Show a stream.”

  9. Digital data (e.g. music or video) delivered in a continuous manner to a client computer, intended for immediate consumption or playback.
  10. A division of a school year by perceived ability.

    “All of the bright kids went into the A stream, but I was in the B stream.”

  11. A train of thought or flow in a conversation or discussion.

    “Not to switch streams, but we really need to focus on talking about the economy right now...”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English streem, strem, from Old English strēam, from Proto-West Germanic *straum, from Proto-Germanic *straumaz (“stream”), from Proto-Indo-European *srowmos (“river”), from Proto-Indo-European *srew- (“to flow”). Doublet of rheum. Cognate with Scots strem, streme, streym (“stream, river”), North Frisian Stroom, struum (“stream”), West Frisian stream (“stream”), Low German Stroom (“stream”), Dutch stroom (“current, flow, stream”), German Strom (“current, stream”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål strøm (“current, stream, flow”), Norwegian Nynorsk straum (“current, stream, flow”), Swedish ström (“current, stream, flow”), Faroese streymur (“stream”), Icelandic straumur (“current, stream, torrent, flood”), Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “stream, flow”), Lithuanian srovė (“current, stream”) Polish strumień (“stream”), Welsh ffrwd (“stream, current”), Scottish Gaelic sruth (“stream”).

  1. To flow in a continuous or steady manner, like a liquid.

    “beneath those banks where rivers now stream”

    “When I came to myself I was lying, not in the outer blackness of the Mohune vault, not on a floor of sand; but in a bed of sweet clean linen, and in a little whitewashed room, through the window of which the spring sunlight streamed.”

  2. To extend; to stretch out with a wavy motion; to float in the wind.

    “A flag streams in the wind.”

  3. To discharge in a stream.

    “The soldier's wound was streaming blood.”

  4. To push continuous data (e.g. music) from a server to a client computer while it is being used (played) on the client.
  5. To livestream.

    “I did factor in the whole, like, "oh, I wonder if doing streaming, and the money that's kind of attached to it, is the reason I wanted to do this?", like, is it warping my brain? I did think about that. I've streamed for years and it's been my entire life and I've made a lot of money off it, and I wondered if that's what's affecting me and making me want to do this. And it's not.”