ray

plural rays

1. A beam of light or radiation.

   I saw a ray of light through the clouds.

   1 more example

   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.

   1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 5

2. biologyA rib-like reinforcement of bone or cartilage in a fish's fin.
3. biologyOne of the spheromeres of a radiate, especially one of the arms of a starfish or an ophiuran.
4. biologyA 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. obsoleteSight; 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.

   1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC

6. mathematicsA line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point.

present singular third person rays · participle present raying · participle past rayed · past rayed

1. transitiveTo emit something as if in rays.

   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.

   1889, Robert Browning, letter to Dr. Furnivall

   1 more example

   He was one of the unthanked benefactors of his race, who was patiently teaching and serving mankind, whilst they were shrinking from his coldness, or mocking his peculiarities. He could not sing for them a sweet song, or create a “thing of beauty” which should be “a joy for ever,” or touch their hearts, or fire their spirits, or deepen their reverence or their fervour. He was not a Poet, a Priest, or a Prophet, but only a cold, clear Intelligence, raying down pure white light, which brightened everything on which it fell, but warmed nothing—a Star of at least the second, if not of the first magnitude, in the Intellectual Firmament.

   1851, George Wilson, The Life of the Hon. Henry Cavendish, page 186

2. intransitiveTo radiate as if in rays.
3. transitiveTo expose to radiation.

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

   1928, Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, page 219

plural rays

1. Any of the superorder Batoidea of marine fish with flat bodies, large wing-like fins, and whip-like tails.

present singular third person rays · participle present raying · participle past rayed · past rayed

1. obsoleteTo arrange.First known use 14th–18th c.
2. archaicTo dress, array (someone).First known use 14th c.
3. obsoleteTo stain or soil; to defile.First known use 16th–19th c.

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

   1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

1. obsoleteuncountableArray; order; arrangement; dress.

   spoyling all her geares and goodly ray

   1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 50

plural rays

1. The letter ⟨/⟩, one of two which represent the r sound in Pitman shorthand.

plural rays

1. alternativeentertainmentAlternative form of re.

plural Rays

1. countableuncountableA surname transferred from the nickname.
2. countableuncountableA diminutive of the male given names Raymond, Rayane, and Rayan, also used as a formal given name.

   -, or Raymond if it happened to be a boy, choosing it in the hope that a name like Ray would make a boy's life easier.

   1980, Wright Morris, Plains Song, for Female Voices, Harper&Row, →ISBN, page 113

   2 more examples

   Although the name on his birth certificate was spelled "Ray", Ray said he was originally given the name "Rae" after Rae Williams, a cousin on his father's side.

   2005, Sam Weller, The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury, William Morrow, →ISBN, page 12

   Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood linked the drunken driving and distracted driving issues in his statement announcing the meeting.

   2009 August 5, Matt Richtel, “Federal Agency Plans Distracted Driving Forum”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 Jun 2021

3. countableuncountableA diminutive of the female given name Rachel, more often spelled Rae.

   'Rachel told me―' 'Call her Ray. She hates Rachel.'

   2010, Sophie Hannah, A Room Swept White, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 271

4. A number of places in the United States:
   1. countableuncountableA census-designated place in Coosa County, Alabama.
   2. countableuncountableA ghost town in Pinal County, Arizona.
   3. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Fremont Township, Steuben County, Indiana and Branch County, Michigan.
   4. countableuncountableA township in Macomb County, Michigan.
   5. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Koochiching County, Minnesota.
   6. countableuncountableA minor city in Williams County, North Dakota.
5. countableuncountableA river in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England, which joins the River Cherwell.
6. countableuncountableA river in north Wiltshire, England, which joins the Thames.

alternative Rey · alternative Rai · alternative Rhay · alternative Rhey · alternative Shahr-e-Rey · alternative Shahr-e-Ray · alternative Shahr Rey · alternative Shahr Ray · alternative Chahr-e Ray · alternative Rhaga · alternative Rhagae · alternative Rhaganae · alternative Rhages · alternative Rages · alternative Raga · alternative Rayy

1. A city near Tehran, Iran.
2. historicalA region and satrapy in ancient Iran located between the Alborz and Zagros mountain ranges and the Dasht-e Kavir desert; Rhagiana.