| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| boom2 |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  b m |
| NOUN: | 1. Nautical A long spar extending from a mast to hold or extend the foot of a sail. 2. A long pole extending upward at an angle from the mast of a derrick to support or guide objects being lifted or suspended. 3a. A barrier composed of a chain of floating logs enclosing other free-floating logs, typically used to catch floating debris or to obstruct passage. b. A floating barrier serving to contain an oil spill. 4. A long movable arm used to maneuver and support a microphone. 5a. A spar that connects the tail surfaces and the main structure of an airplane. b. A long hollow tube attached to a tanker aircraft, through which fuel flows to another aircraft being refueled in flight. | | TRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: boomed, boom·ing, booms
To move or position using a crane: “The renegade logs somehow escaped while . . . the logs were boomed up into the mile-long rafts that ply these channels” (Jack Weatherford, Native Roots 1991). | | IDIOM: | drop (or lower) the boom To act suddenly and forcefully to repress a practice or reprimand an offender; crack down. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Dutch, tree, pole, from Middle Dutch. See bheu - in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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