foam

[fohm] /foʊm/
noun
1.
a collection of minute bubbles formed on the surface of a liquid by agitation, fermentation, etc.:
foam on a glass of beer.
2.
the froth of perspiration, caused by great exertion, formed on the skin of a horse or other animal.
3.
froth formed from saliva in the mouth, as in epilepsy and rabies.
4.
a thick frothy substance, as shaving cream.
5.
  1. a chemically produced substance that smothers the flames on a burning liquid by forming a layer of minute, stable, heat-resistant bubbles on the liquid's surface.
  2. the layer of bubbles so formed.
6.
a dispersion of gas bubbles in a solid, as foam glass, foam rubber, polyfoam, or foamed metal.
7.
Literary. the sea.
verb (used without object)
8.
to form or gather foam; emit foam; froth.
verb (used with object)
9.
to cause to foam.
10.
to cover with foam; apply foam to:
to foam a runway before an emergency landing.
11.
to insulate with foam.
12.
to make (plastic, metal, etc.) into a foam.
Idioms
13.
foam at the mouth, to be extremely or uncontrollably angry.
Origin
before 900; Middle English fom, Old English fām; cognate with German Feim
Related forms
foamable, adjective
foamer, noun
foamingly, adverb
foamless, adjective
foamlike, adjective
defoam, verb (used with object)
unfoamed, adjective
unfoaming, adjective
Synonyms
1. froth, spume, head, fizz; scum.
Examples from the web for foam
  • The membrane surrounds a liquid, foam or solid food.
  • The resulting protein strands then form a mesh around the air bubbles, stabilizing the foam.
  • With no real cushion on the bag's backside, the bubbly foam padding is intended to offer support from everyday shunts and bumps.
  • Fluid foam tends to have medium to smaller bubbles and moderate drain times.
  • Plastic foam flats with tapered individual cells are sold by nurseries and through seed catalogs.
  • If sugar is added before a coarse foam is established, the whites get too stretchy to make a stiff foam.
  • Say, for instance, that someone in an argument starts to foam at the mouth.
  • Axel ties up the last ring of sausage and tosses it into the kettle, then sets about disinfecting the kitchen with spray foam.
  • To make it foam, draught stout is forced through a special plate.
  • Apart from a giant foam-rubber model of a potato, the roadshow will include demonstrations of recipes by leading chefs.
British Dictionary definitions for foam

foam

/fəʊm/
noun
1.
a mass of small bubbles of gas formed on the surface of a liquid, such as the froth produced by agitating a solution of soap or detergent in water
2.
frothy saliva sometimes formed in and expelled from the mouth, as in rabies
3.
the frothy sweat of a horse or similar animal
4.
  1. any of a number of light cellular solids made by creating bubbles of gas in the liquid material and solidifying it: used as insulators and in packaging
  2. (as modifier): foam rubber, foam plastic
5.
a colloid consisting of a gas suspended in a liquid
6.
a mixture of chemicals sprayed from a fire extinguisher onto a burning substance to create a stable layer of bubbles which smothers the flames
7.
a poetic word for the sea
verb
8.
to produce or cause to produce foam; froth
9.
(intransitive) to be very angry (esp in the phrase foam at the mouth)
Derived Forms
foamless, adjective
foamlike, adjective
Word Origin
Old English fām; related to Old High German feim, Latin spūma, Sanskrit phena
Word Origin and History for foam
n.

Old English fam "foam, saliva froth," from West Germanic *faimo- (cf. Old High German veim, German Feim), from PIE *(s)poi-mo-, a root with connotations of "foam, froth" (cf. Sanskrit phenah; Latin pumex "pumice," spuma "foam;" Old Church Slavonic pena "foam;" Lithuanian spaine "a streak of foam"). The rubber or plastic variety so called from 1937.

v.

Old English famgian "to foam," from the source of foam (n.). Related: Foamed; foaming.

foam in Science
foam
(fōm)

  1. Small, frothy bubbles formed in or on the surface of a liquid, as from fermentation or shaking.

  2. A colloid in which particles of a gas are dispersed throughout a liquid. Compare aerosol, emulsion.


foam in the Bible

(Hos. 10:7), the rendering of _ketseph_, which properly means twigs or splinters (as rendered in the LXX. and marg. R.V.). The expression in Hosea may therefore be read, "as a chip on the face of the water," denoting the helplessness of the piece of wood as compared with the irresistable current.

Encyclopedia Article for foam

in physical chemistry, a colloidal system (i.e., a dispersion of particles in a continuous medium) in which the particles are gas bubbles and the medium is a liquid. The term also is applied to material in a lightweight cellular spongy or rigid form. Liquid foams are sometimes made relatively long-lasting-e.g., for fire fighting-by adding some substance, called a stabilizer, that prevents or retards the coalescence of the gas bubbles. Of the great variety of substances that act as foam stabilizers, the best known are soaps, detergents, and proteins. Proteins, because they are edible, find wide use as foaming agents in foodstuffs such as whipped cream, marshmallow (made from gelatin and sugar), and meringue (from egg white). The foam used to combat oil fires consists of bubbles of carbon dioxide (liberated from sodium bicarbonate and aluminum sulfate) stabilized by dried blood, glue, or other cheap protein-containing materials. Beer foam is believed to be stabilized by the colloidal constituents present, which include proteins and carbohydrates. Foaming may be undesirable, as in lubricating oils, and its prevention is not always easy. Aqueous foams usually can be broken by treatment with small amounts of certain alcohols.

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