X-RAY • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • 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

... of my experiments in 'Lightless Photography,' that is, appreciating light. It was X-ray work that started me in that direction. Yet, you must understand, though I was attempting to develop this 'unexposed' plate, I had no definite idea of results—nothing more than a vague hope that it ...

— Carnacki, The Ghost Finder • William Hope Hodgson

... bring a new intelligence to bear upon the tragedy," said Albert. "He will see things that are hidden from us, for his brain has a quality which one can only describe as a mental X-ray, which probes and penetrates in a fashion denied ...

— The Red Redmaynes • Eden Phillpotts

... than it is to save a tooth. This is not to say that all bridge- and crown-work is improper, but that such work should only be of a character that will permit of surgical cleanliness in the mouth, and that such teeth should always be examined by the X-Ray, when there is evidence of systemic disease in order to be sure that the roots and sockets ...

— How to Live - Rules for Healthful Living Based on Modern Science • Irving Fisher and Eugene Fisk

... lady of infinite dignity was lying on a sofa. It seems to me now that after one steady look from those searching 'eyes of gold and bramble dew' (which had rather the effect of a sort of spiritual X-ray), I lost my feeling of being on approval, and in ten minutes I was sitting on the floor beside the sofa, pouring out my own past history in remarkable detail, and feeling as if I had known ...

— The Life of Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson • Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez

Words linked to "X-ray" : X ray, X-ray photography, X-ray tube, roentgenogram, skiagraph, electromagnetic radiation, pneumoencephalogram, picture taking, electromagnetic wave, arthrogram, angiocardiogram, X-ray therapy, radiograph, X-ray machine, X-ray picture, arteriogram, X-ray photograph, X-raying, nonparticulate radiation, photography, X-radiation, radiogram, shoot, X-ray film, skiagram, hysterosalpingogram, roentgen ray, venogram, angiogram, snap, phlebogram, ionizing radiation, pyelogram, examine