| • | A prayer. |
| • | A little perforated ball, to be strung on a thread, and worn for ornament; or used in a rosary for counting prayers, as by Roman Catholics and Mohammedans, whence the phrases to tell beads, to at one's beads, to bid beads, etc., meaning, to be at prayer. |
| • | Any small globular body |
| • | A bubble in spirits. |
| • | A drop of sweat or other liquid. |
| • | A small knob of metal on a firearm, used for taking aim (whence the expression to draw a bead, for, to take aim). |
| • | A small molding of rounded surface, the section being usually an arc of a circle. It may be continuous, or broken into short embossments. |
| • | A glassy drop of molten flux, as borax or microcosmic salt, used as a solvent and color test for several mineral earths and oxides, as of iron, manganese, etc., before the blowpipe; as, the borax bead; the iron bead, etc. |
| • | To ornament with beads or beading. |
| • | To form beadlike bubbles. |
