Stream (strēm), n. [AS. streám; akin to OFries. strām, OS. strōm, D. stroom, G. strom, OHG. stroum, strūm, Dan. & Sw. ström, Icel. straumr, Ir. sroth, Lith. srove, Russ. struia, Gr. ρὕσισ a flowing, ρεἱ̑ν to flow, Skr. sru. √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. — 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.