electric rayn.1
/ᵻˌlɛktrɪk ˈreɪ/, U.S. /əˌlɛktrɪk ˈreɪ/, /iˌlɛktrɪk ˈreɪ/ Now rare.
A wave that carries electrical energy; an electric signal in the form of a wave; a radio wave. Frequently figurative in 19th-cent. use. Cf. electric wave n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > [noun] > radio wave
electric ray1746
wireless wave1901
radio wave1915
1746 Philos. Enq. Properties Electr. 26 At that precise instant of Contact, the Person's Finger becomes in a repulsive State to the group of electric Rays, that in the next succeeding Point of Time sally out of the Rod.
1823 S. W. Morton My Mind & its Thoughts 218 Diffused around the sacred skies, The electric ray of hope extends.
1858 Wautoma (Wisconsin) Jrnl. 27 Oct. 1/5 The electric ray flashes from us to the Hibernian shore.
1888 E. MacColl Eng. Poet. Wks. 89 Thine eyes could rest on Mine with loving gaze, Or droop, as soul to soul sent love's electric rays.
1896 Pearson's Mag. II. 754/2 A solid wall..is very transparent to the electric ray.
1899 E. M. Barton Straws on Stream (1910) 64 She wears upon her breast a brilliant spark: The light of Hope, which like the electric ray, Pierces the gloom to regions far away.
1952 Amer. Jrnl. Orthodontics 38 353 Roentgen rays, like ultraviolet rays and electric rays, are invisible and travel in a straight line.
2001 A. W. Lee Picturing Chinatown v. 227 Consider the street lamps, whose jutting electric rays look more solid and rigid than any of the iron posts.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
electric rayn.2
/ᵻˌlɛktrɪk ˈreɪ/, U.S. /əˌlɛktrɪk ˈreɪ/, /iˌlɛktrɪk ˈreɪ/ Any of various sluggish, bottom-dwelling marine rays constituting the families Torpedinidae and Narcinidae, esp. of the genus Torpedo, which can deliver a disabling electric shock for the capture of prey and for defence. Cf. torpedo n. 1a.
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the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Hypotremata > [noun] > member of family Torpedinidae (electric ray)
torpedo?1527
cramp-fish1591
numbfish1711
numbing fish1748
cramp-ray1769
electric ray1774
torpedo-ray1804
torpedo-fish1825
1774 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 63 478 (caption) Explanation of the plate of the male and female torpedo, or electric ray.
1851 Encycl. Americana (new ed.) 528/1 This genus includes the electric ray or torpedo, and skates, the sting-ray and thornbacks, and other species.
1883 Amer. Naturalist 17 985 In the electric rays that live in sea water, which is a good conductor, the electric organ has a greater transverse development.
1931 E. G. Boulenger Fishes iv. 57 The Electric Ray (Torpedo marmorata ), which abounds in all warm seas, is in many ways the most remarkable representative of the Order.
1958 G. Durrell Encounters with Animals ii. 88 The electric-ray or torpedo-fish, a curious creature that looks rather like a frying-pan run over by a steam-roller.
2002 P. Herring Biol. Deep Ocean vi. 146 The discharges of the electric ray Torpedo are much stronger (they can produce brief shocks of up to 50 amps of current).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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