I. ˈrā noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English raye, from Middle French raie, from Latin raia
: any of numerous elasmobranch fishes of the order Hypotremata and especially of the suborder Batoidea having the body dorsoventrally flattened often to an extreme degree with the mouth and gill clefts on the lower and the eyes on the upper surface, the pectoral fins usually enormously developed and continuous along the margin of the head and body, the pelvic fins of moderate size, the anal fin absent, and typically a slender whiplike caudal process often with venomous spines, being adapted for life on the sea bottom, and feeding chiefly on mollusks which they crush with blunt flattened pavement teeth ; sometimes : any of the typical rays as distinguished from the skates and the more sharklike members of the order — see electric ray , guitarfish , stingray ; compare sawfish
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French rai, from Latin radius staff, rod, spoke, radius, ray, beam; perhaps akin to Latin radix root — more at root
1.
a. : one of the lines of light that appear to radiate from a bright or luminous object
b. : a beam of light or other radiant energy of small cross section or infinitesimal cross section
c. : a geometrical line normal to the wave front in which radiation (as heat or light) is propagated
d. : a stream of material particles all traveling in the same line (as in radioactive phenomena) ; also : a single particle of such a stream
an alpha ray
e. : a specific or limited portion of the total radiation
the red ray
2. obsolete : a glance of the eye : sight , vision , perception — see visual ray
3.
a. : light cast by or in a ray or rays : radiance
glimmering by the lantern's dim ray
b. : moral or intellectual light or a gleam of such light
4. : a thin line suggesting a ray:
a. : any of a group of lines or processes diverging from a common center like the radii of a circle
b. : any of a system of lines passing through a point and regarded as extending indefinitely in both directions : half line
c. : any of the bright whitish lines seen on the moon near full and appearing to radiate from lunar craters
5. : any of various parts or structures (as of organisms) that are felt to resemble rays of light: as
a.
(1) : any of the nearly parallel or somewhat divergent bony or cartilaginous or horny rods that extend and support the membrane in the fin of a fish and are ordinarily slender bony rods supported at their bases by parts of the internal skeleton and usually transversely segmented into many short segments near their outer end which is often also longitudinally cleft so that the ray is soft and flexible but are stiff and unsegmented forming definite spines
(2) : any of the radiating divisions of the body of an echinoderm with all its included parts ; also : an arm of a crinoid or starfish
(3) : any of the longitudinal veins of an insect's wing
b.
(1) : ray flower
(2) : a branch or flower stalk of an umbel
(3) : a radially oriented band of parenchymatous tissue in the stele of a vascular plant usually functioning as a storage tissue and in the radial transport of nutrients — see medullary ray , vascular ray
6. : a representation of a ray of light : a bright strip, bar, or band
7. : a small or unsubstantial amount : particle , trace
saw the merest ray of hope
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
1. : to shine or shine out with or as if with rays : emit rays ; also : to issue as rays
2. : to issue or extend like the radii of a circle : radiate
the little town rayed out into leafy lanes — Anne D. Sedgwick
transitive verb
1. : to send forth or emit in rays
eyes that ray out intelligence — Thomas Carlyle
2. : to furnish or mark with rays, radiating lines, or stripes
3.
a. : to brighten or illuminate (as one's face or darkness) with rays of light
b. : to expose to rays (as X rays, radiations from radium, or ultraviolet light) : irradiate
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English raye, from Anglo-French ( drap de ) raye, literally, striped cloth; raye from Old French raie, roie stripe, furrow, of Celtic origin; akin to Gaulish rica furrow, Welsh rhych; akin to Old English furh furrow — more at furrow
: a striped woolen cloth used from the 13th to the 16th centuries
V. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English rayen, short for arayen, arrayen — more at array
1. obsolete : to form in order or array : equip , arrange ; also : to deal with or dispose of
2. dialect chiefly England : array , dress
3. obsolete : to make dirty : soil
VI. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, short for aray, array — more at array
1. obsolete : array , order , arrangement ; also : a line or rank (as of soldiers)
2. obsolete : dress , raiment
VII. ˈrā
chiefly Scotland
variant of rye
VIII.
variant of re