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Stealthy
(Stealth"y) a. [Compar. Stealthier ; superl. Stealthiest.] Done by stealth; accomplished
clandestinely; unperceived; secret; furtive; sly.
[Withered murder] with his stealthy pace, . . .
Moves like a ghost. Shak. Steam
(Steam) n. [OE. stem, steem, vapor, flame, AS. steám vapor, smoke, odor; akin to D. stoom
steam, perhaps originally, a pillar, or something rising like a pillar; cf. Gr. to erect, a pillar, and E. stand.]
1. The elastic, aëriform fluid into which water is converted when heated to the boiling points; water in the
state of vapor.
2. The mist formed by condensed vapor; visible vapor; — so called in popular usage.
3. Any exhalation. "A steam og rich, distilled perfumes." Milton.
Dry steam, steam which does not contain water held in suspension mechanically; — sometimes applied
to superheated steam. — Exhaust steam. See under Exhaust. — High steam, or High- pressure
steam, steam of which the pressure greatly exceeds that of the atmosphere. — Low steam, or Low-
pressure steam, steam of which the pressure is less than, equal to, or not greatly above, that of the
atmosphere. — Saturated steam, steam at the temperature of the boiling point which corresponds
to its pressure; — sometimes also applied to wet steam. — Superheated steam, steam heated to a
temperature higher than the boiling point corresponding to its pressure. It can not exist in contact with
water, nor contain water, and resembles a perfect gas; — called also surcharged steam, anhydrous
steam, and steam gas. — Wet steam, steam which contains water held in suspension mechanically; —
called also misty steam.
Steam is often used adjectively, and in combination, to denote, produced by heat, or operated by power,
derived from steam, in distinction from other sources of power; as in steam boiler or steam-boiler, steam
dredger or steam-dredger, steam engine or steam-engine, steam heat, steam plow or steam-plow,
etc.
Steam blower. (a) A blower for producing a draught consisting of a jet or jets of steam in a chimney or
under a fire. (b) A fan blower driven directly by a steam engine. — Steam boiler, a boiler for producing
steam. See Boiler, 3, and Note. In the illustration, the shell a of the boiler is partly in section, showing
the tubes, or flues, which the hot gases, from the fire beneath the boiler, enter, after traversing the outside
of the shell, and through which the gases are led to the smoke pipe d, which delivers them to the chimney;
b is the manhole; c the dome; e the steam pipe; f the feed and blow-off pipe; g the safety value; hthe
water gauge. — Steam car, a car driven by steam power, or drawn by a locomotive. — Steam carriage,
a carriage upon wheels moved on common roads by steam. — Steam casing. See Steam jacket,
under Jacket. — Steam chest, the box or chamber from which steam is distributed to the cylinder
of a steam engine, steam pump, etc., and which usually contains one or more values; — called also
valve chest, and valve box. See Illust. of Slide valve, under Slide. — Steam chimney, an annular
chamber around the chimney of a boiler furnace, for drying steam. — Steam coil, a coil of pipe, or
collection of connected pipes, for containing steam; — used for heating, drying, etc. — Steam colors
(Calico Printing), colors in which the chemical reaction fixed the coloring matter in the fiber is produced
by steam. — Steam cylinder, the cylinder of a steam engine, which contains the piston. See Illust.
of Slide valve, under Slide. — Steam dome (Steam Boilers), a chamber upon the top of the boiler,
from which steam is conduced to the engine. See Illust. of Steam boiler, above. — Steam fire engine,
a fire engine consisting of a steam boiler and engine, and pump which is driven by the engine, combined
and mounted on wheels. It is usually drawn by horses, but is sometimes made self-propelling. — Steam
fitter, a fitter of steam pipes. — Steam fitting, the act or the occupation of a steam fitter; also, a pipe
fitting for steam pipes. — Steam gas. See Superheated steam, above. — Steam gauge, an instrument
for indicating the pressure of the steam in a boiler. The mercurial steam gauge is a bent tube partially
filled with mercury, one end of which is connected with the boiler while the other is open to the air, so
that the steam by its pressure raises the mercury in the long limb of the tume to a height proportioned
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