2. To mark, stain, or soil; to streak; to defile. [Obs.]
``The fifth that did it ray.'' --Spenser.
And spoiling all her gears and goodly ray. --Spenser.
2. (Bot.) A radiating part of the 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. (Zo["o]l.)
(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 or 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.
{R["o]ntgen ray}(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
2. [From {Ray}, n.] To send forth or shoot out; to cause to
shine out; as, to ray smiles. [R.] --Thompson.
{Bishop ray}, a yellow-spotted, long-tailed eagle ray
({Stoasodon n[`a]rinari}) of the Southern United States
and the West Indies.
{Butterfly ray}, a short-tailed American sting ray
({Pteroplatea Maclura}), having very broad pectoral fins.
{Eagle ray}, any large ray of the family {Myliobatid[ae]}, or
{[AE]tobatid[ae]}. 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 {Trygonid[ae]} having one or more large, sharp,
barbed dorsal spines on the whiplike tail. Called also
{stingaree}.