A normal medical x-ray delivers about 0.02 rem; a fatal dose of radiation is several thousand rem.
1945–50; r(oentgen) e(quivalent in) m(an)
First recorded in 1955–60
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
NIOSH, trying to give Brogdon the benefit of the doubt, calculated the dose to his prostate at just above 35 rem.
From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2015
If a person receives a dose of 1 rem, his risk each year of dying from radiation-induced cancer is 10 in a million and that risk continues for about 30 years.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
If the exposure is not small compared with the exposure from the average sea level background radiation — 0.3 rem — it is a significant issue.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2014
I wouldn’t dream of doing something as stupid as leaving my home and ruining my life by becoming a refugee for 5 rem per year, let alone 2 rem.
From Forbes ● May 19, 2013
Being of his flesh born they had his name Foreth rem ir Osborth, and were reared in that Clanhearth.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
The wearables correctly identified REM cycles, but overestimated deep sleep—the hardest stage to identify without brain-wave readings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
The anesthetized patients’ brains produced activity that shared similarities to being unconscious in a coma—as well as deep sleep, REM sleep and patterns unique to anesthesia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
Both deep sleep and REM sleep were significantly shorter, and participants spent an additional 15 minutes awake during the night.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 4, 2026
During a typical night, the brain cycles repeatedly through deep sleep and REM sleep.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 4, 2026
Mom stands inside my room and annoyingly knocks on my door until I drag myself from REM dreams.
From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
