Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A steel joist or girder with short flanges and a cross section formed like the letter I.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun engineering A beam shaped like a capital letter I (with serifs top and bottom), used in construction.
  • noun computing, graphical user interface A cursor shaped like the letter I, usually indicating the presence of editable text.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • I am trying to lift my house on a I-beam frame, where can i get proper calculations as to what the span is?

    Frame Prop | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • A dead tree hung from the gallery's I-beam ceiling is partly carved to resemble a balustrade.

    This week's new exhibitions 2011

  • In 1992, during a gap in the committee's existence, a statue called "The Pennsylvania Worker" was put up in the mansion's front yard — a big bronze lug of a steelworker lifting an I-beam.

    One Worker's Relocation Barry Newman 2010

  • The I-beam fragment crashed into the catwalk, severing it and sending it smashing into the debris field.

    Rogue Oracle 2011

  • "Old Buddy (For Rosko)" (1993-95), two large verticals linked by a heavy I-beam, mirrors the expanse of the waterways' bridges and that of the nearby trapeze safety net.

    Soaring Forms and Mythology in the Flesh Lance Esplund 2011

  • Mr. Adjmi's design nods to that manufacturing past not just by preserving the grit of the old façade, but also through the use of the exposed I-beam as the primary means of expression.

    Design Nods to the Old, New in Gansevoort District Tom Stoelker 2011

  • A rusted I-beam began to shift loose under the force of water on the flat roof, ripped down in a wash of water and wings.

    Rogue Oracle 2011

  • A dead tree hung from the gallery's I-beam ceiling is partly carved to resemble a balustrade.

    This week's new exhibitions 2011

  • The I-beam fragment crashed into the catwalk, severing it and sending it smashing into the debris field.

    Rogue Oracle 2011

  • A rusted I-beam began to shift loose under the force of water on the flat roof, ripped down in a wash of water and wings.

    Rogue Oracle 2011

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