ray

1 a narrow sharply defined line of light radiating from an object two red eyes reflected in the ray of light from the flashlight Synonyms beam, shaftRelated Words moonbeam, sunbeam, sunburst; laser, spotlight

2 a very small amount the tapping sound ceased, extinguishing the last ray of hope that the trapped miners were still alive Synonyms ace, bit, crumb, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, hint, lick, little, mite, nip, ounce, peanuts, particle, scintilla, scruple, shade, shadow, shred, skosh, smack, smell, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), snap, soupçon, spark, spatter, speck, splash, spot, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, touch, traceRelated Words hoot, iota, jot, minim, minimum, modicum, semblance, syllable, tittle, vestige, whit; atom, dot, fleck, flyspeck, grain, granule, molecule, morsel, mote, nubbin, patch, scrap; dash, drop, pinch; part, portion, section; bite, nibble, taste; handful, scattering, smatter, smattering; dose, shot; chip, flake, fragment, shard, shiver, sliver, smithereens, splinter; shred, tatter; clipping, paring, shavingNear Antonyms abundance, barrel, boatload, bucket, bundle, bushel, deal, fistful, gobs, heaps, lashings (also lashins) [chiefly British], loads, lot, mass, mess, mountain, much, oodles, passel, peck, pile, plenty, potful, profusion, quantity, raft, reams, scads, stack, wad, wealth; volume; bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overflow, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus; chunk, hunk, lump, slab

1 to emit rays of light klieg lights were raying against the nighttime sky at the Hollywood premiere Synonyms beam, radiate, shineRelated Words blaze, burn, fire, flame, gleam, glimmer, glint, glisten, glister, glitter, glow, luminesce, sheen, shimmer; blink, coruscate, flare, flash, flicker, luster (or lustre), scintillate, spangle, sparkle, twinkle, wink, winkle; beat (down), glare; brighten, illuminate, illumine, irradiate, light, lighten; bedazzle, blind, daze, dazzleNear Antonyms blacken, darken; lower (also lour)

2 to extend outwards from or as if from a central point laugh wrinkles rayed out from the corners of the old man's eyes Synonyms branch, fan (out), radiateRelated Words diffuse, dispel, disperse, dissipate; fork, stem; diverge, divide, part, ramify, separate, split, uncouple, unlink, unyoke; scatter, splay, spread; arise, derive, emanate, flow, issue, proceed, springNear Antonyms approach, close in (on), near; center (on), centralize; connect, couple, join, link, uniteAntonyms concentrate, converge, focus, funnel, meet