X-RAY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of X-ray

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noun

X-ray, X ray n. (Physics) Originally, any of the rays produced when cathode rays strike upon surface of a solid (as a copper target or the wall of the vacuum tube); now defined as electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of 0.1 to 10 nanometers. X-rays are noted for their penetration of many opaque substances, as wood and flesh, their action on photographic plates, and their fluorescent effects. They were called X rays by their discoverer, W. K. Röntgen, but were also referred to for some time as Roentgen rays. The term X-ray has become the most common designation. They also ionize gases, but cannot be reflected, or polarized, or deflected by a magnetic field. They are used in examining objects opaque to visible light, as for imaging bones or other structures inside the human body, and for detecting flaws in metal objects, such as in welds.

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Etymology of 'X-ray'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"X-ray" Quotes from Famous Books

... trolly cars, yet we have not traveled far into the realm of spirit, and our X-ray has given us no insight into the heart ...

— Love, Life & Work • Elbert Hubbard

... consulted German authorities. I squirmed and lied and resisted all I could, but he said he owed me an eternal debt that could only be liquidated by an absolute cure. He wanted to tie me up and shoot me with an X-ray. He ordered me to wear white socks. He had a long, terrifying look at a drop of my blood. He jerked hairs out of my head to sample my nerve force. He said I was a baffling subject, but that he meant to make me well if it ...

— The Motormaniacs • Lloyd Osbourne

... In the bare X-ray room of the hospital, which happened to be vacant, Betty sat on the one straight-backed wooden chair, while a weeping damsel on the uncarpeted floor sobbed in her lap and confessed ...

— The Red Planet • William J. Locke

... were you doing in this lifecraft? No, let me guess. You were X-ray-eying it and fine-toothing it for improvements made since your last trip, and storing the details away in your ...

— Subspace Survivors • E. E. Smith

Words linked to "X-ray" : shoot, phlebogram, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photograph, X-ray picture, radiogram, X ray, X-ray tube, nonparticulate radiation, pyelogram, shadowgraph, photograph, examine, arteriogram, X-raying, venogram, ionizing radiation, snap, picture taking, encephalogram, X-radiation