rays

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of ray.

   The morning rays slipped between the curtains and woke her.

   Cosmic rays constantly strike the upper atmosphere from deep space.

   Note

   One plural covers every kind of ray: beams of light or radiation, the bony spines that stiffen a fish's fin, the arms of a starfish, the outer florets of a sunflower, and the geometer's lines running out from a point. Only context tells them apart. The spelling is shared with the verb meaning "radiates". A word in front, as in the rays or cosmic rays, marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of ray.

   From the town square, each street rays out toward the hills.

   Warmth rays outward from the glowing coals long after the fire dies.

   Note

   The verb runs in two patterns. It can take an object, as in a lamp rays its light, or it can go without one and take a direction word, as in heat rays outward. It goes with he, she, it or a singular noun, while I, you and they take ray. Older writing may use it to mean arranging, dressing or soiling someone. Those senses are archaic or obsolete, so in modern prose read it as "radiates."

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