Definition of bead noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

bead

noun

biːd

biːd

1 [countable] a small piece of glass, wood, etc. with a hole through it, that can be put on a string with others of the same type and worn as jewellery, etca necklace of wooden beadsA bead curtain separated the two rooms. see also worry beads2 beads [plural] a rosaryIn one of the pews a woman was fingering her beads.3 [countable] a small drop of liquidThere were beads of sweat on his forehead.

Idioms

draw/get a bead on somebody/something

(especially North American English) to aim carefully at somebody/something before shooting a gunOne of the police officers drew a bead on the gunman and fired.