RAY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ray mean? 

• RAY (noun)
  The noun RAY has 7 senses:

1. a column of light (as from a beacon)

2. a branch of an umbel or an umbelliform inflorescence

3. (mathematics) a straight line extending from a point

4. a group of nearly parallel lines of electromagnetic radiation

5. the syllable naming the second (supertonic) note of any major scale in solmization

6. any of the stiff bony spines in the fin of a fish

7. cartilaginous fishes having horizontally flattened bodies and enlarged winglike pectoral fins with gills on the underside; most swim by moving the pectoral fins

  Familiarity information: RAY used as a noun is common.

• RAY (verb)
  The verb RAY has 3 senses:

1. emit as rays

2. extend or spread outward from a center or focus or inward towards a center

3. expose to radiation

  Familiarity information: RAY used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RAY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A column of light (as from a beacon)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

beam; beam of light; irradiation; light beam; ray; ray of light; shaft; shaft of light

Hypernyms ("ray" is a kind of...):

light; visible light; visible radiation ((physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ray"):

heat ray (a ray that produces a thermal effect)

low beam (the beam of a car's headlights that provides illumination for a short distance)

laser beam (a beam of light generated by a laser)

sunbeam; sunray (a ray of sunlight)

moon-ray; moon ray; moonbeam (a ray of moonlight)

high beam (the beam of a car's headlights that provides distant illumination)

Derivation:

ray (emit as rays)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A branch of an umbel or an umbelliform inflorescence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("ray" is a kind of...):

pedicel; pedicle (a small stalk bearing a single flower of an inflorescence; an ultimate division of a common peduncle)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(mathematics) a straight line extending from a point

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("ray" is a kind of...):

vector (a straight line segment whose length is magnitude and whose orientation in space is direction)

Domain category:

math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)

Derivation:

ray (extend or spread outward from a center or focus or inward towards a center)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A group of nearly parallel lines of electromagnetic radiation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

beam; electron beam; ray

Hypernyms ("ray" is a kind of...):

electromagnetic radiation; electromagnetic wave; nonparticulate radiation (radiation consisting of waves of energy associated with electric and magnetic fields resulting from the acceleration of an electric charge)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ray"):

cathode ray (a beam of electrons emitted by the cathode of an electrical discharge tube)

particle beam (a collimated flow of particles (atoms or electrons or molecules))

Derivation:

ray (expose to radiation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The syllable naming the second (supertonic) note of any major scale in solmization

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

ray; re

Hypernyms ("ray" is a kind of...):

solfa syllable (one of the names for notes of a musical scale in solmization)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Any of the stiff bony spines in the fin of a fish

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("ray" is a kind of...):

spine (a sharp rigid animal process or appendage; as a porcupine quill or a ridge on a bone or a ray of a fish fin)

Holonyms ("ray" is a part of...):

fin (organ of locomotion and balance in fishes and some other aquatic animals)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Cartilaginous fishes having horizontally flattened bodies and enlarged winglike pectoral fins with gills on the underside; most swim by moving the pectoral fins

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("ray" is a kind of...):

elasmobranch; selachian (any of numerous fishes of the class Chondrichthyes characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton and placoid scales: sharks; rays; skates)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ray"):

sawfish (primitive ray with sharp teeth on each edge of a long flattened snout)

guitarfish (primitive tropical bottom-dwelling ray with a guitar-shaped body)

stingray (large venomous ray with large barbed spines near the base of a thin whiplike tail capable of inflicting severe wounds)

eagle ray (powerful free-swimming tropical ray noted for 'soaring' by flapping winglike fins; usually harmless but has venomous tissue near base of the tail as in stingrays)

devilfish; manta; manta ray (extremely large pelagic tropical ray that feeds on plankton and small fishes; usually harmless but its size make it dangerous if harpooned)

skate (large edible rays having a long snout and thick tail with pectoral fins continuous with the head; swim by undulating the edges of the pectoral fins)

crampfish; electric ray; numbfish; torpedo (any sluggish bottom-dwelling ray of the order Torpediniformes having a rounded body and electric organs on each side of the head capable of emitting strong electric discharges)

• RAY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they ray    ... he / she / it rays   
Past simple: rayed   
Past participle: rayed   
-ing form: raying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Emit as rays

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Context example:

That tower rays a laser beam for miles across the sky

Hypernyms (to "ray" is one way to...):

emit; give off; give out (give off, send forth, or discharge; as of light, heat, or radiation, vapor, etc.)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

ray (a column of light (as from a beacon))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Extend or spread outward from a center or focus or inward towards a center

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

radiate; ray

Context example:

This plants radiate spines in all directions

Hypernyms (to "ray" is one way to...):

extend; go; lead; pass; run (stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or extend between two points or beyond a certain point)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

ray ((mathematics) a straight line extending from a point)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Expose to radiation

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

irradiate; ray

Context example:

irradiate food

Hypernyms (to "ray" is one way to...):

process; treat (subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ray"):

bombard (direct high energy particles or radiation against)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

ray (a group of nearly parallel lines of electromagnetic radiation)

 Context examples 

X-rays may be used to help diagnose disease.

(Abdominal Radiography, NCI Dictionary)

To this mind of the heart, if I may call it so, in Mr. Dick, some bright ray of the truth shot straight.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Never mind expense. Put him under the X-ray—anything.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I heard one of your kind an hour ago, singing high over the wood: but its song had no music for me, any more than the rising sun had rays.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But as soon as the first rays of the sun shone into the garden he saw all the ten sacks standing side by side, quite full, and not a single grain was missing.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

It shields us from the sun's ultraviolet rays.

(Ozone, Environmental Protection Agency)

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory later observed that the source - known as an ultraluminous X-ray source, or ULX - had disappeared just as quickly.

(NASA Satellite Spots a Mystery That's Gone in a Flash, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The pictures are produced using forms of radiation, such as x-rays, sound waves, or other types of energy.

(Neuroradiologist, NCI Dictionary)

NMRI makes better images of organs and soft tissue than other scanning techniques, such as computed tomography (CT) or x-ray.

(NMRI, NCI Dictionary)

The x-rays are taken from different angles and show the kidneys clearly, without the shadows of the organs around them.

(Nephrotomogram, NCI Dictionary)