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X ray

UK/ˈɛks ɹeɪ/ US/ˈɛks ˌɹeɪ/ fairly common informal
noun (2) verb (2)

noun

1.
2.

verb

1.

examine by taking x-rays

2.

take an x-ray of something or somebody

  • “The doctor x-rayed my chest”

Origin

From X + ray, a calque of German X-Strahl, coined by Wilhelm Röntgen upon his discovery of the rays in 1895, where X signifies their unknown nature. The chess sense is metaphorical, referring to control passing through a seemingly solid barrier.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.