noun
(archaic) Prayer, later especially with a rosary.
Each in a string of small balls making up the rosary or paternoster.
A small, round object.
A ridge, band, or molding.
(physical chemistry, dated) 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.
verb
To form into a bead.
(transitive) To apply beads to.
(transitive) To form into a bead.
(transitive) To cause beads to form on (something).