ray

¹ American  

[rey] / reɪ /

noun

1. any of numerous elasmobranch fishes, adapted for life on the sea bottom, having a flattened body and greatly enlarged pectoral fins with the gills on the undersides.

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ray ² American  

[rey] / reɪ /

noun

1. a narrow beam of light.

2. a gleam or slight manifestation.

   a ray of hope.

3. a raylike line or stretch of something.

4. light or radiance.

5. a line of sight.

6. Physics, Optics.

   1. any of the lines or streams in which light appears to radiate from a luminous body.

   2. the straight line normal to the wave front in the propagation of radiant energy.

   3. a stream of material particles all moving in the same straight line.

7. Mathematics.

   1. one of a system of straight lines emanating from a point.

   2. Also called half-line.  the part of a straight line considered as originating at a point on the line and as extending in one direction from that point.

8. any of a system of parts radially arranged.

9. Zoology.

   1. one of the branches or arms of a starfish or other radiate animal.

   2. one of the bony or cartilaginous rods in the fin of a fish.

10. Botany.

    1. ray flower.

    2. one of the branches of an umbel.

    3. vascular ray.

    4. (in certain composite plants) the marginal part of the flower head.

11. Astronomy. one of many long, bright streaks radiating from some of the large lunar craters.

12. a prominent upright projection from the circlet of a crown or coronet, having a pointed or ornamented termination.

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verb (used without object)

1. to emit rays.

2. to issue in rays.

verb (used with object)

1. to send forth in rays.

2. to throw rays upon; irradiate.

3. to subject to the action of rays, as in radiotherapy.

4. Informal. to make a radiograph of; x-ray.

5. to furnish with rays or radiating lines.

idioms

1. get / grab some rays, to relax in the sun, especially to sunbathe.

Ray ³ American  

[rey, rahy] / reɪ, raɪ /

noun

1. John, 1627?–1705, English naturalist.

2. Man 1890–1976, U.S. painter and photographer.

3. Satyajit 1921–92, Indian film director.

4. Cape, a promontory at the SW extremity of Newfoundland, Canada, on the Cabot Strait, at the entrance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

5. a male given name, form of Raymond.

6. Also Raye a female given name, form of Rachel.

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ray ¹ British  

/ reɪ /

noun

1. a narrow beam of light; gleam

2. a slight indication, esp of something anticipated or hoped for

   a ray of solace

3. maths a straight line extending from a point

4. a thin beam of electromagnetic radiation or particles

5. any of the bony or cartilaginous spines of the fin of a fish that form the support for the soft part of the fin

6. any of the arms or branches of a starfish or other radiate animal

7. astronomy any of a number of bright streaks that radiate from the youngest lunar craters, such as Tycho; they are composed of crater ejecta not yet darkened, and extend considerable distances

8. botany any strand of tissue that runs radially through the vascular tissue of some higher plants See medullary ray

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verb

1. (of an object) to emit (light) in rays or (of light) to issue in the form of rays

2. (intr) (of lines, etc) to extend in rays or on radiating paths

3. (tr) to adorn (an ornament, etc) with rays or radiating lines

Ray ² British  

/ reɪ /

noun

1. John . 1627–1705, English naturalist. He originated natural botanical classification and the division of flowering plants into monocotyledons and dicotyledons

2. Man , real name Emmanuel Rudnitsky . 1890–1976, US surrealist photographer

3. Satyajit (ˈsætjədʒɪt). 1921–92, Indian film director, noted for his Apu trilogy (1955–59)

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ray ³ British  

/ reɪ /

noun

1. music (in tonic sol-fa) the second degree of any major scale; supertonic

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Ray ⁴ British  

/ reɪ /

noun

1. a promontory in SW Newfoundland, Canada

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ray ⁵ British  

/ reɪ /

noun

1. any of various marine selachian fishes typically having a flattened body, greatly enlarged winglike pectoral fins, gills on the undersurface of the fins, and a long whiplike tail. They constitute the orders Torpediniformes ( electric rays ) and Rajiformes

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ray Scientific  

/ rā /

1. A thin line or narrow beam of light or other radiation.

2. A geometric figure consisting of the part of a line that is on one side of a point on the line.

3. See ray flower

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Related Words

See gleam.

Other Word Forms

• raylike adjective

Etymology

Origin of ray¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English rai(e), raye, (from Old French rai ) or directly from Latin raia

Origin of ray¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English rai, raie, raye, from Old French rai “beam of light; spoke of a wheel,” from Latin radius radius

Example Sentences

The UK will see a significant partial solar eclipse on 12 August, when the Moon covers a large part of the Sun's rays as it passes between the Earth and Sun.

From BBC

Most of that radiation comes in the form of gamma rays and other high-energy particles that are invisible to Webb's infrared instruments.

From Science Daily

The timing was especially telling: the new outflows appeared in the images while NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope was also detecting high-energy gamma rays, directly connecting the shock-powered radiation to those colliding streams.

From Science Daily

Using multi-scale synchrotron X ray techniques and a high-resolution transmission electron microscope, the researchers observed that reactions inside single-crystal particles do not occur evenly.

From Science Daily

Measurements show that this distant supernova closely matches the brightness and spectral features of SN 1998bw, a well known supernova linked to a gamma ray burst that exploded much closer to Earth.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• glimmer
• light
• radiation