beading

UK: /ˈbiːdɪŋ/ US: (bē′ding)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

bead•ing  (bē′ding), n. 

1. Clothing material composed of or adorned with beads.
2. Clothing narrow, lacelike trimming or edging.
3. Clothing narrow openwork trimming through which ribbon may be run.
4. Architecture, Furniture
   • a bead molding.
   • all of the bead moldings in a single design.

Also, beadwork (for defs. 1, 4).

• bead + -ing¹ 1855–60

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

beading / ˈbiːdɪŋ/ noun

1. another name for bead6
2. Also called: beadwork / ˈbiːdˌwɜːk/ a narrow strip of some material used for edging or ornamentation

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

bead /bid/   n. 

[countable]
1. Jewelry a small object of glass, wood, etc., with a hole through it, often put on a string with others of its kind in necklaces, etc.
2. beads, [plural]
   • Jewelry a necklace of beads.
   • a rosary.
3. a small drop of liquid or a bubble in a liquid:
   Beads of sweat popped out on his head.

v. 

4. to form beads or a bead on: [~ + object]
   The perspiration beaded his face.
   [no object]
   The moisture beaded on the glass.

Idioms

5. Idioms draw or get a bead on, [~ + object] to take careful aim at (a target):
   The hit man got a bead on his victim.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

bead  (bēd), n. 

1. Jewelry a small, usually round object of glass, wood, stone, or the like with a hole through it, often strung with others of its kind in necklaces, rosaries, etc.
2. beads:
   • Jewelry a necklace of beads:
     You don't have your beads on this evening.
   • a rosary.
   • [Obs.] devotions;
     prayers.
3. any small globular or cylindrical body.
4. a drop of liquid:
   beads of moisture.
5. a bubble rising through effervescent liquid.
6. Usually, beads. a mass of such bubbles on the surface of a liquid.
7. Military the front sight of a rifle or gun.
8. Automotive a reinforced area of a rubber tire terminating the sidewall and fitting within the rim of a wheel. See illus. under tire. 
9. Electricity a glass, ceramic, or plastic insulator that contains and supports the inner conductor in a coaxial cable.
10. Chemistry a globule of borax or some other flux, supported on a platinum wire, in which a small amount of some substance is heated in a flame as a test for its constituents.
11. Metallurgy the rounded mass of refined metal obtained by cupellation.
12. Furniture, Architecture [Archit., Furniture.] a small molding having a convex circular section and, usually, a continuous cylindrical surface;
    astragal.
13. Building, Building, Metallurgy [Welding.] a continuous deposit of fused metal, either straight (stringer bead) or zigzag (weave bead.)
14. count, say, or tell one's beads, to say one's prayers, using rosary beads:
    There were a few old women counting their beads in the hushed silence of the chapel.
15. Idioms draw or get a bead on, to take careful aim at:
    The marksman drew a bead on his target.

v.t. 

16. to form or cause to form beads or a bead on.
17. to ornament with beads.
18. Building [Carpentry.] to form a bead on (a piece).

v.i. 

19. to form beads;
    form in beads or drops:
    perspiration beading on his forehead.

• bef. 900; Middle English bede prayer, prayer bead (where, on a rosary each bead symbolizes a prayer, the word for the notion symbolized was transferred to the designating object), Old English gebed prayer; akin to bid¹, German Gebet

bead′like′, adj. 
Synonyms

• 4. droplet, globule, blob, dot.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bead / biːd/ noun

1. a small usually spherical piece of glass, wood, plastic, etc, with a hole through it by means of which it may be strung with others to form a necklace, etc
2. a small drop of moisture
3. a small bubble in or on a liquid
4. a small metallic knob acting as the sight of a firearm
5. draw a bead on ⇒ to aim a rifle or pistol at
6. Also called: astragal a small convex moulding having a semicircular cross section
7. count one's beads, say one's beads, tell one's beads ⇒ to pray with a rosary

verb

1. (transitive) to decorate with beads
2. to form into beads or drops

Etymology: Old English bed prayer; related to Old High German gibet prayer

ˈbeaded adjective