Ray

/ɹeɪ/ · noun

Meaning

A beam of light or radiation..

Definitions by Sense

1. A beam of light or radiation.
2. (zoology) A rib-like reinforcement of bone or cartilage in a fish's fin.
3. (zoology) One of the spheromeres of a radiate, especially one of the arms of a starfish or an ophiuran.
4. (botany) A radiating part of a flower or plant; the marginal florets of a compound flower, such as an aster or a sunflower; one of the pedicels of an umbel or other circular flower cluster; radius.
5. (obsolete) Sight; perception; vision; from an old theory of vision, that sight was something which proceeded from the eye to the object seen.
6. (mathematics) A line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point.
7. (transitive) To emit something as if in rays.
8. (intransitive) To radiate as if in rays.

Example Sentences

I saw a ray of light through the clouds.

Strangely light and delicate was his frame and seeming, yet with a sense of slumbering power beneath, as the delicate peak of a snow mountain seen afar in the low red rays of morning.

All eyes direct their rays / On him, and crowds turn coxcombs as they gaze.

I had no particular woman in my mind; certainly never intended to personify wisdom, philosophy, or any other abstraction; and the orb, raying colour out of whiteness, was altogether a fancy of my own.

Rats' eyes with ulcus serpens were successfully treated; one second of raying stopped the progress of the ulcer, which healed uninterruptedly.

From his soft eyes the teares he wypt away, / And from his face the filth that did it ray […].

spoyling all her geares and goodly ray

Synonyms for ray

Antonyms for ray

Related Words

Word Forms

• rays
• raying
• rayed

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

Practice and Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions