x-ray

or X-ray (ĕks′rā′)

n. or x ray or X ray

a. A photon of electromagnetic radiation of very short wavelength, ranging from about 10 down to 0.01 nanometers, and very high energy, ranging from about 100 up to 100,000 electron volts.

b. often x-rays or X-rays A narrow beam of such photons. X-rays are used for their penetrating power in radiography, radiology, radiotherapy, and scientific research. Also called roentgen ray.

a. A photograph taken with x-rays.

b. The act or process of taking such a photograph: Did the patient move during the x-ray?

tr.v. x-rayed, x-ray·ing, x-rays or X-rayed or X-ray·ing or X-rays

1. To irradiate with x-rays.

2. To photograph with x-rays.

[From translation of obsolete German X-Strahlen, x-rays (coined by their discoverer Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen ) : x, x, unknown factor (since x-rays were a previously unknown form of radiation) + Strahlen, pl. of Strahle, ray.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

X-rays

1. Electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength between those of ultraviolet light and gamma rays.

2. Short-wavelength streams of photons used to penetrate a patients’s body tissues for diagnostic purposes, such as to produce an X-ray image of the inside of the body, or as a form of therapy, such as to destroy diseased tissue.

Translations

X-rays

(eksˈreiz) noun plural

rays which can pass through many substances impossible for light to pass through, and which produce a picture of the object through which they have passed.

ˌX-ˈray noun

(the process of taking) a photograph using X-rays. I'm going to hospital for an X-ray; We'll take an X-ray of your chest; (also adjective) an X-ray photograph.

verb

to take a photograph of using X-rays. They X-rayed my arm to see if it was broken.

x-rays

n. rayos-x (equis), radiografía.

1. ondas electromagnéticas de alta energía de radiación que se usan para penetrar tejidos y órganos del cuerpo y registrar densidades en una placa o pantalla;

2. placa fotográfica o fluorescente que obtiene la imagen de estructuras internas del organismo.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

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References in periodicals archive

Walk-in and baggage x-rays will be installed in the city's three major checkpoints to intensify the inspection of people entering here.Col.

X-ray machines / City to install x-rays at checkpoints

Researchers found the amount of X-rays patients are exposed to varies widely due to how scanners are used by medical staff.

High radiation in CT scans a cancer risk, scientists warn

[USA], Nov 7 (ANI): Researchers have observed that artificial intelligence (AI) tools trained to detect pneumonia using chest X-rays suffered significant decreases in performance when tested on data from outside health systems.

AI may not suffice to analyse data across multiple health systems

"Where these winds clash changes during the orbital cycle, which produces a periodic signal in low-energy X-rays we've been tracking for more than two decades."

Superstar Eta Carinae Shoots Cosmic Rays

To understand why this is the case, it is necessary to appreciate how x-rays are produced within the tube.

X-ray Magnification--Transmissive and Reflective Targets: At the highest magnifications, the differences between the two types of targets become clear

In this study, we examine whether x-rays can be reliably used to determine social spider numbers and whether colonies subjected to x-rays have altered survival and behavioural responses.

A method for accurately estimating social spider numbers without colony damage

NOVEMBER 8, 1895--Wilhelm Rontgen discovers X-rays while conducting experiments to test whether cathode rays could pass through glass; in the process of the experiments, he noticed a faint glow on a screen nearby and set out to investigate the source.

Wilhelm Rontgen discovers X-rays while conducting experiments to test whether cathode rays could pass through glass; in the process of the experiments, he noticed a faint glow on a screen nearby and set out to investigate the source

'They said I was lucky and smart to get annual chest x-rays because lung cancer doesn't give you any signs until it's in late stages.

Larry King, 83, vouches for annual x-rays after having cancer surgery

X-rays appear to be trickling away from Pluto, even though the dwarf planet has no obvious way of making the high-energy photons, a new study reports.

X-ray mystery shrouds Pluto: additional data needed to confirm high-energy photons

By JEANETTE OLDHAM Investigations Editor jeanette.oldham@trinitymirror.com BOSSES at a crisis-hit hospital trust had 'no knowledge' of a shocking backlog of 36,000 x-rays, which had put patients at risk.

NHewosspital bosses 'didn't know' about backlog of 36,000 vital x-rays