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X-ray

The definition of an X-ray is a picture taken of the inside of something using high energy electromagnetic radiation with short wavelengths that can pass through items.

(noun)

A picture that the doctor takes of your insides to see if you have any broken bones is an example of an X-ray.

To X-ray is also the act of examining, treating or photographing something using electromagnetic radiation.

(verb)

An example of to X-ray is when the dentist uses an X-ray machine to find a cavity in a tooth.

See X-ray in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

a band of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between gamma rays and ultraviolet radiation (c. .005 to c. 5 nanometers), produced by the bombardment of a substance (usually one of the heavy metals) by a stream of electrons moving at great velocity, as in a vacuum tube: X-rays are capable of penetrating opaque or solid substances, ionizing gases and body tissues through which they pass or, by extended exposure, destroying tissue, and affecting photographic plates and fluorescent screens: they are widely used in medicine for study, diagnosis, and treatment of certain organic disorders, esp. of internal structures of the body: usually used in pl.
a photograph made by means of X-rays

Origin: transl. of Ger x-strahl (< x, algebraic symbol for an unknown quantity + strahl, ray): so named by Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen (1895), because of its unknown character

adjective

of, by, or having to do with X-rays

transitive verb

to examine, treat, or photograph with X-rays

Also X ray, x-ray, or x ray

See X-ray in American Heritage Dictionary 4

also X-ray

noun also x ray or X ray

a. A relatively high-energy photon having a wavelength in the approximate range from 0.01 to 10 nanometers.
b. A stream of such photons, used for their penetrating power in radiography, radiology, radiotherapy, and scientific research. Often used in the plural. Also called roentgen ray.
A photograph taken with x-rays.