RAY


Meaning of RAY in English

ray /reɪ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

[ Sense 1-5: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: rai , from Latin radius ; ⇨ ↑ radius ]

[ Sense 6: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: raie , from Latin raia ]

1 . a straight narrow beam of light from the sun or moon:

The room darkened as a cloud hid the sun’s rays.

ray of

Rays of light filtered through the trees.

2 . a beam of heat, electricity, or other form of energy ⇨ ↑ cosmic ray , ↑ gamma ray , ↑ X-ray 1

3 . a ray of hope/light etc something that provides a small amount of hope or happiness in a difficult situation:

a treatment that offers a ray of hope for cancer sufferers

4 . a ray of sunshine someone who is happy and makes a difficult situation seem better

5 . catch some/a few rays informal to sit or lie in the sun:

Let’s go out and catch a few rays.

6 . a large flat sea fish with a long pointed tail

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.