Ray , n. [F. raie, L. raia. Cf. Roach.]
(Zoöl.) (a) Any one of numerous elasmobranch
fishes of the order Raiæ, including the skates, torpedoes, sawfishes, etc. (b) In a restricted sense, any of the broad, flat, narrow-tailed species, as the skates and sting rays. See Skate.
Bishop ray, a yellow-spotted, long-tailed eagle ray (Stoasodon nàrinari)
of the Southern United States and the West
Indies. -- Butterfly ray, a short-tailed American sting ray (Pteroplatea
Maclura), having very broad pectoral fins. --
Devil ray. See Sea devil. -- Eagle ray, any large ray of
the family Myliobatidæ, or Ætobatidæ. The common European species
(Myliobatis aquila) is
called also whip ray, and miller. -- Electric ray, or Cramp ray, a torpedo. -- Starry ray, a common European skate (Raia radiata). -- Sting
ray, any one of numerous species of rays of the family Trygonidæ
having one or more large, sharp, barbed dorsal spines on the whiplike tail. Called also stingaree.
Ray , v. i. To shine, as with rays. Mrs. Browning.
Ray , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rayed (rād); p. pr. & vb. n.
Raying.]
[Cf. OF. raier,
raiier, rayer, L. radiare to irradiate. See Ray, n., and cf. Radiate.] 1. To mark with
long lines; to streak. [Obs.] Chaucer.
2. [From Ray, n.] To send forth
or shoot out; to cause
to shine out; as, to ray smiles. [R.]
Thomson.
Ray , n. [OF. rai, F. rais, fr. L. radius a beam or ray, staff, rod, spoke of a wheel. Cf. Radius.]
1. One of a number of
lines or parts diverging from a common
point or center, like the radii of
a circle; as, a star of six rays.
2. (Bot.) A radiating part of a flower or plant; the
marginal florets of a compound flower, as an
aster or a sunflower; one of the pedicels of an umbel or other circular flower cluster; radius. See Radius.
3. (Zoöl.) (a) One of the radiating spines, or cartilages, supporting the fins of fishes. (b)
One of the spheromeres of a radiate, especially one of the arms of a starfish
or an ophiuran.
4. (Physics) (a)
A line of
light or heat proceeding from a radiant or reflecting point; a single element of light or heat
propagated continuously; as, a solar
ray; a polarized ray. (b)
One of the component elements of the total
radiation from a body; any definite or limited portion of the spectrum; as, the red ray; the violet ray. See Illust. under Light.
5. Sight; perception; vision; -- from an old theory
of vision, that sight was something which proceeded from the eye to the object seen.
All
eyes direct their
rays
On him, and crowds turn coxcombs as they gaze.
Pope. 6. (Geom.)
One of a
system of diverging lines passing through a point, and regarded as extending indefinitely in both directions. See Half-ray.
Bundle
of rays. (Geom.) See Pencil of rays, below. -- Extraordinary ray
(Opt.), that one of two parts of
a ray divided by double refraction which does not follow the ordinary law of refraction. -- Ordinary ray (Opt.),
that one of the two parts
of a ray divided by double refraction which follows the usual or ordinary law of refraction. -- Pencil of rays (Geom.),
a definite system of rays. -- Ray flower, or Ray floret (Bot.), one of the marginal flowers of the capitulum in such composite plants as the aster, goldenrod, daisy, and sunflower. They have an
elongated, strap-shaped corolla, while the corollas of the disk flowers are tubular and five-lobed. -- Ray point (Geom.), the
common point of a pencil of rays. -- Röntgen ray (r&etilde;nt"g&ebreve;n) (Phys.), a kind of ray generated in a
very highly exhausted vacuum tube by the electrical discharge.
It is capable of passing through many bodies opaque to light, and
producing photographic and fluorescent effects by which means pictures showing the internal structure of opaque objects are made, called
radiographs, or sciagraphs.. So called from the discoverer, W. C. Röntgen. -- X ray, the Röntgen ray; -- so called by its
discoverer because of its enigmatical character, x being an algebraic symbol for an unknown quantity.
Ray , n. Array; order; arrangement; dress.
[Obs.]
And spoiling all her gears and goodly ray.
Spenser.
Ray (rā), v. t. [An
aphetic form of array; cf. Beray.]
1. To array. [Obs.] Sir T. More.
2. To mark, stain, or soil; to streak; to defile. [Obs.] "The filth that did it ray." Spenser.
Hear it pronounced