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• ray
  ray

  noun

  a narrow beam of light.
• Ray
  Ray

  noun

  John, 1627?–1705, English naturalist.

ray

¹ American  

[ray] / 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)

• rays,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rayed,
  past participle,  past
• raying
  present participle

1. to emit rays.

2. to issue in rays.

verb (used with object)

• rays,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rayed,
  past participle,  past
• raying
  present participle

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 ² American  

[ray] / 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 ³ American  

[ray, 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. 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 ³ 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 ⁴ British  

/ reɪ /

noun

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

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Ray ⁵ British  

/ reɪ /

noun

1. a promontory in SW Newfoundland, Canada

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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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Synonym Usage

See gleam.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• raylike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• raying
  present
• rayed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• ray
  simple
• rays
  simple
• have rayed
  perfect
• has rayed
  perfect
• am raying
  progressive
• are raying
  progressive
• is raying
  progressive
• have been raying
  perfect progressive
• has been raying
  perfect progressive

Past

• rayed
  simple
• had rayed
  perfect
• was raying
  progressive
• were raying
  progressive
• had been raying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will ray
  simple
• will have rayed
  perfect
• will be raying
  progressive
• will have been raying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

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

Origin of ray²

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

Explanation

A ray is a beam of light or radiation. Even on cloudy days, you sometimes see a ray of sunlight shine through the clouds. In physics, a ray is a line or column of light, heat, or electromagnetic radiation (like an x-ray), while in math a ray is a line that passes through a specific point. A marine biologist would define a ray as a big fish that's related to sharks and has a wide, flat body and a long tail. The root of the first two kinds of rays is the Latin word radius, "spoke" or "staff."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ray Ray rays rayed raying

To understand how that feature changes RNA's behavior, the researchers used temperature controlled microscopy, small angle X ray scattering and molecular dynamics simulations performed by the Joseph group.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

She’s a ray of light; he’s magnetically mature.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

Ms Mullan described her daughter Amelia as "a ray of sunshine," who "had the most beautiful curls and a creativity that shone through everything that she did".

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

The JetZero aircraft looks more like a manta ray than the tube-with-wings blueprint that has been the default for over 70 years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Quinzy smiled, and the last ray of flame-colored light glinted off his glasses as the sun disappeared over the valley’s edge.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

Such a book was found by Ray Trautman in 1944, on the floor of a hospital in Belgium where wounded servicemen were being treated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Braves left-hander Ray Kerr, who excelled as a long reliever down the stretch, served as the opener in their second straight bullpen game and third of the postseason.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

Travelodge interim chief executive Ray Reidy told the BBC the company was working with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust - a personal safety charity - to develop one.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

Did he anticipate Dr. Harry Edwards being co-opted by the 49ers, Ray Lewis by the Ravens, and the players’ coalition by team owners?

From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2026

When I hand Ray back his phone, he gives me a long look.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

One stunning shot follows the group from behind as they are silhouetted by the setting sun whose fading rays show off the clouds’ contours.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

Neutrons are particularly useful for detecting light elements on the periodic table, especially hydrogen, while X rays are highly effective at revealing heavier elements.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026

Detecting such a weak signal is difficult because it could easily be buried beneath radiation from other sources, including cosmic rays.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

That day, he also saw groups of uniquely colored manta rays — some were a tan brown, and others were gray with a black stripe, called spinetail devil rays.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

She rose from her bedroll as the first rays of dawn touched the still-dark sky.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

The initiative seeks to restore the rayed bean mussel, which has not been found in Kentucky waters in more than 40 years.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 15, 2020

Some of the brighter craters are rayed, like Tycho and Copernicus on the Moon, and many have central peaks.

From Textbooks ● Oct. 13, 2016

For a reciprocal test, we used the same H. melpomene races as the ingroup to compare with rayed Heliconius timareta florencia at the B/D region.

From Nature ● Jul. 4, 2012

Instead, our results imply that derived colour-pattern elements have introgressed recently between both rayed and postman forms of and .

From Nature ● Jul. 4, 2012

Heaven-flowers, rayed by shadows golden From the palms they sprang beneath, Now perhaps divinely holden, Swing against him in a wreath: We may think so from the quickening of his bloom and of his breath.

From The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning Volume II by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Ever since Colonel Lindbergh flew one across the Atlantic in 1927, most U. S. aeronautical engineers have been developing air-cooled, radial engines with cylinders raying out like huge wheel-spokes around a short, chunky crankshaft.

From Time Magazine Archive

She was looking around the hem to see if the quilt maker had stitched in her initials, but the edges were all raying away.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck

He conquers as the sun conquers the thick-ribbed ice by raying down its heat upon it, and melting it into sweet water.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture: Romans Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V) by Alexander Maclaren

Couldst thou but see how thou appearest to me, what a wonderful form penetrates thy shape, and everywhere is raying towards me, thou wouldst not fear age.

From Henry of Ofterdingen: A Romance. by Friedrich von Hardenberg

There is a pale bit of moon towards morning, then faint streaks raying up in the east, and sounds of life once more.

From Floyd Grandon's Honor by Amanda Minnie Douglas

Related Words

• glimmer
• light
• radiation