Chapter 8

Rat"-tail` (rt"tl`), a. Like a rat's tail in form; as, a rat-tail file, which is round, slender, and tapering. See Illust. of File.

Rat"-tail`, n. 1. (Far.) pl. An excrescence growing from the pastern to the middle of the shank of a horse.

2. (Zoöl.) (a) The California chimæra. See Chimæra. (b) Any fish of the genus Macrurus. See Grenadier, 2.

Rat"-tailed` (-tld`), a. (Zoöl.) Having a long, tapering tail like that of a rat.

Rat-tailed larva (Zoöl.), the larva of a fly of the genus Eristalis. See Eristalis. -- Rat-tailed serpent (Zoöl.), the fer- de-lance. -- Rat-tailed shrew (Zoöl.), the musk shrew.

Rat*tan" (rt*tn"), n. [Malay rtan.] [Written also ratan.] (Bot.) One of the long slender flexible stems of several species of palms of the genus Calamus, mostly East Indian, though some are African and Australian. They are exceedingly tough, and are used for walking sticks, wickerwork, chairs and seats of chairs, cords and cordage, and many other purposes.

Rat*teen" (-tn"), n. [F. ratine.] A thick woolen stuff quilled or twilled.

Rat"ten (rt"t'n), v. t. [Prov. E. ratten a rat, hence the verb literally means, to do mischief like a rat.] To deprive feloniously of the tools used in one's employment (as by breaking or stealing them), for the purpose of annoying; as, to ratten a mechanic who works during a strike. [Trades-union Cant] J. McCarthy.

Rat"ter (-tr), n. 1. One who, or that which, rats, as one who deserts his party.

2. Anything which catches rats; esp., a dog trained to catch rats; a rat terrier. See Terrier.

Rat`ti*net" (-t*nt"), n. A woolen stuff thinner than ratteen.

Rat"ting (rt"tng), n. 1. The conduct or practices of one who rats. See Rat, v. i., 1. Sydney Smith.

2. The low sport of setting a dog upon rats confined in a pit to see how many he will kill in a given time.

Rat"tle (-t'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rattled (-t'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Rattling (-tlng).] [Akin to D. ratelen, G. rasseln, AS. hrætele a rattle, in hrætelwyrt rattlewort; cf. Gr. kradai`nein to swing, wave. Cf. Rail a bird.] 1. To make a quick succession of sharp, inharmonious noises, as by the collision of hard and not very sonorous bodies shaken together; to clatter.

And the rude hail in rattling tempest forms.

Addison.

'T was but the wind, Or the car rattling o'er the stony street.

Byron.

<! p. 1192 pr=vmg !>

2. To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering; as, we rattled along for a couple of miles. [Colloq.]

3. To make a clatter with the voice; to talk rapidly and idly; to clatter; -- with on or away; as, she rattled on for an hour. [Colloq.]

Rat"tle (rt"t'l), v. t. 1. To cause to make a rattling or clattering sound; as, to rattle a chain.

2. To assail, annoy, or stun with a rattling noise.

Sound but another [drum], and another shall As loud as thine rattle the welkin's ear.

Shak.

3. Hence, to disconcert; to confuse; as, to rattle one's judgment; to rattle a player in a game. [Colloq.]

4. To scold; to rail at. L'Estrange.

To rattle off. (a) To tell glibly or noisily; as, to rattle off a story. (b) To rail at; to scold. "She would sometimes rattle off her servants sharply." Arbuthnot.

Rat"tle, n. 1. A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the rattle of a drum. Prior.

2. Noisy, rapid talk.

All this ado about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceit.

Hakewill.

3. An instrument with which a rattling sound is made; especially, a child's toy that rattles when shaken.

The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other.

Sir W. Raleigh.

Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw.

Pope.

4. A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer.

It may seem strange that a man who wrote with so much perspicuity, vivacity, and grace, should have been, whenever he took a part in conversation, an empty, noisy, blundering rattle.

Macaulay.

5. A scolding; a sharp rebuke. [Obs.] Heylin.

6. (Zoöl.) Any organ of an animal having a structure adapted to produce a rattling sound.

The rattle of a rattlesnake is composed of the hardened terminal scales, loosened in succession, but not cast off, and so modified in form as to make a series of loose, hollow joints.

7. The noise in the throat produced by the air in passing through mucus which the lungs are unable to expel; -- chiefly observable at the approach of death, when it is called the death rattle. See Râle.

To spring a rattle, to cause it to sound. -- Yellow rattle (Bot.), a yellow-flowered herb (Rhinanthus Crista-galli), the ripe seeds of which rattle in the inflated calyx.

Rat"tle*box` (-bks`), n. 1. A toy that makes a rattling sound; a rattle.

2. (Bot.) (a) An American herb (Crotalaria sagittalis), the seeds of which, when ripe, rattle in the inflated pod. (b) Any species of Crotalaria, a genus of yellow-flowered herbs, with inflated, many-seeded pods.

Rat"tle-brained` (-brnd`), a. Giddy; rattle-headed.

Rat"tle*head` (-hd`), n. An empty, noisy talker.

Rat"tle-head`ed, a. Noisy; giddy; unsteady.

Rat"tle*mouse` (-mous`), n. A bat. [Obs.] Puttenham.

Rat"tle*pate` (-pt`), n. A rattlehead. C. Kingsley.

Rat"tle-pat`ed, a. Rattle- headed. "A noisy, rattle-pated fellow." W. Irving.

Rat"tler (-tlr), n. One who, or that which, rattles.

Rat"tle*snake` (rt"t'l*snk`), n. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of venomous American snakes belonging to the genera Crotalus and Caudisona, or Sistrurus. They have a series of horny interlocking joints at the end of the tail which make a sharp rattling sound when shaken. The common rattlesnake of the Northern United States (Crotalus horridus), and the diamond rattlesnake of the South (C. adamanteus), are the best known. See Illust. of Fang.

Ground rattlesnake (Zoöl.), a small rattlesnake (Caudisona, or Sistrurus, miliaria) of the Southern United States, having a small rattle. It has nine large scales on its head. -- Rattlesnake fern (Bot.), a common American fern (Botrychium Virginianum) having a triangular decompound frond and a long- stalked panicle of spore cases rising from the middle of the frond. -- Rattlesnake grass (Bot.), a handsome American grass (Glyceria Canadensis) with an ample panicle of rather large ovate spikelets, each one composed of imbricated parts and slightly resembling the rattle of the rattlesnake. Sometimes called quaking grass. -- Rattlesnake plantain. (Bot.) See under Plantain. -- Rattlesnake root (Bot.), a name given to certain American species of the composite genus Prenanthes (P. alba and P. serpentaria), formerly asserted to cure the bite of the rattlesnake. Called also lion's foot, gall of the earth, and white lettuce. -- Rattlesnake's master. (Bot.) (a) A species of Agave (Agave Virginica) growing in the Southern United States. (b) An umbelliferous plant (Eryngium yuccæfolium) with large bristly-fringed linear leaves. (c) A composite plant, the blazing star (Liatris squarrosa). -- Rattlesnake weed (Bot.), a plant of the composite genus Hieracium (H. venosum); -- probably so named from its spotted leaves. See also Snakeroot.

Rat"tle*trap` (-trp`), n. Any machine or vehicle that does not run smoothly. [Colloq.] A. Trollope.

Rat"tle*weed` (-wd`), n. (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Astragalus. See Milk vetch.

Rat"tle*wings` (-wngz`), n. (Zoöl.) The golden-eye.

Rat"tle*wort` (-wûrt`), n. [AS. hrætelwyrt.] (Bot.) Same as Rattlebox.

Rat"tlings (rt"tlngz), n. pl. (Naut.) Ratlines.

Rat*toon" (rt*tn"), n. [Sp. retoño.] One of the stems or shoots of sugar cane of the second year's growth from the root, or later. See Plant-cane.

Rat*toon", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rattooned (-tnd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Rattooning.] [Cf. Sp. retoñar.] To sprout or spring up from the root, as sugar cane from the root of the previous year's planting.

Rau"cid (r"sd), a. [L. raucus hoarse; cf. LL. raucidus.] Hoarse; raucous. [R.] Lamb.

Rau"ci*ty (r"s*t), n. [L. raucitas, from raucus hoarse: cf. F. raucité.] Harshness of sound; rough utterance; hoarseness; as, the raucity of a trumpet, or of the human voice.

Rau"cous (r"ks), a. [L. raucus.] Hoarse; harsh; rough; as, a raucous, thick tone. "His voice slightly raucous." Aytoun. -- Rau"cous*ly, adv.

Raught (rt), obs. imp. & p. p. of Reach. Shak.

Raught, obs. imp. & p. p. of Reck. Chaucer.

Raunch (rnch), v. t. See Ranch. Spenser.

Raun*soun" (rn*sn"), n. Ransom. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Rav"age (rv"j; 48), n. [F., fr. (assumed) L. rapagium, rapaticum, fr. rapere to carry off by force, to ravish. See Rapacious, Ravish.] Desolation by violence; violent ruin or destruction; devastation; havoc; waste; as, the ravage of a lion; the ravages of fire or tempest; the ravages of an army, or of time.

Would one think 't were possible for love To make such ravage in a noble soul?

Addison.

Syn. -- Despoilment; devastation; desolation; pillage; plunder; spoil; waste; ruin.

Rav"age, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ravaged (-jd); p. pr. & vb. n. Ravaging (-*jng).] [F. ravager. See Ravage, n.] To lay waste by force; to desolate by violence; to commit havoc or devastation upon; to spoil; to plunder; to consume.

Already Cæsar Has ravaged more than half the globe.

Addison.

His lands were daily ravaged, his cattle driven away.

Macaulay.

Syn. -- To despoil; pillage; plunder; sack; spoil; devastate; desolate; destroy; waste; ruin.

Rav"a*ger (-*jr), n. One who, or that which, ravages or lays waste; spoiler.

Rave (rv), obs. imp. of Rive.

Rave, n. [Prov. E. raves, or rathes, a frame laid on a wagon, for carrying hay, etc.] One of the upper side pieces of the frame of a wagon body or a sleigh.

Rave (rv), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Raved (rvd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raving.] [F. rêver to rave, to be delirious, to dream; perhaps fr. L. rabere to rave, rage, be mad or furious. Cf. Rage, Reverie.] 1. To wander in mind or intellect; to be delirious; to talk or act irrationally; to be wild, furious, or raging, as a madman.

In our madness evermore we rave.

Chaucer.

Have I not cause to rave and beat my breast?

Addison.

The mingled torrent of redcoats and tartans went raving down the valley to the gorge of Killiecrankie.

Macaulay.

2. To rush wildly or furiously. Spenser.

3. To talk with unreasonable enthusiasm or excessive passion or excitement; -- followed by about, of, or on; as, he raved about her beauty.

The hallowed scene Which others rave of, though they know it not.

Byron.

Rave, v. t. To utter in madness or frenzy; to say wildly; as, to rave nonsense. Young.

Rave"hook (rv"hk), n. (Shipbuilding) A tool, hooked at the end, for enlarging or clearing seams for the reception of oakum.

Rav"el (rv"'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Raveled (-'ld) or Ravelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Raveling or Ravelling.] [OD. ravelen, D. rafelen, akin to LG. rebeln, rebbeln, reffeln.] 1. To separate or undo the texture of; to take apart; to untwist; to unweave or unknit; -- often followed by out; as, to ravel a twist; to ravel out a stocking.

Sleep, that knits up the raveled sleave of care.

Shak.

2. To undo the intricacies of; to disentangle.

3. To pull apart, as the threads of a texture, and let them fall into a tangled mass; hence, to entangle; to make intricate; to involve.

What glory 's due to him that could divide Such raveled interests? has the knot untied?

Waller.

The faith of very many men seems a duty so weak and indifferent, is so often untwisted by violence, or raveled and entangled in weak discourses!

Jer. Taylor.

Rav"el, v. i. 1. To become untwisted or unwoven; to be disentangled; to be relieved of intricacy.

2. To fall into perplexity and confusion. [Obs.]

Till, by their own perplexities involved, They ravel more, still less resolved.

Milton.

3. To make investigation or search, as by picking out the threads of a woven pattern. [Obs.]

The humor of raveling into all these mystical or entangled matters.

Sir W. Temple.

Rav"el*er (-r), n. [Also raveller.] One who ravels.

Rave"lin (rv"ln; 277), n. [F.; cf. Sp. rebellin, It. revellino, rivellino; perhaps fr. L. re- again + vallum wall.] (Fort.) A detached work with two embankments which make a salient angle. It is raised before the curtain on the counterscarp of the place. Formerly called demilune, and half-moon.

Rav"el*ing (rv"'l*ng), n. [Also ravelling.] 1. The act of untwisting or of disentangling.

2. That which is raveled out; esp., a thread detached from a texture.

Ra"ven (r"v'n), n. [AS. hræfn; akin to D. raaf, G. rabe, OHG. hraban, Icel. hrafn, Dan. ravn, and perhaps to L. corvus, Gr. ko`rax. &radic;19.] (Zoöl.) A large black passerine bird (Corvus corax), similar to the crow, but larger. It is native of the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America, and is noted for its sagacity.

Sea raven (Zoöl.), the cormorant.

Ra"ven, a. Of the color of the raven; jet black; as, raven curls; raven darkness.

Rav"en (rv"'n), n. [OF. raviné impetuosity, violence, F. ravine ravine. See Ravine, Rapine.] [Written also ravin, and ravine.] 1. Rapine; rapacity. Ray.

2. Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.

Rav"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ravened (-'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Ravening.] [Written also ravin, and ravine.]

1. To obtain or seize by violence. Hakewill.

2. To devour with great eagerness.

Like rats that ravin down their proper bane.

Shak.

Rav"en, v. i. To prey with rapacity; to be greedy; to show rapacity. [Written also ravin, and ravine.]

Benjamin shall raven as a wolf.

Gen. xlix. 27.

||Rav`e*na"la (rv`*nä"l), n. [Malagasy.] (Bot.) A genus of plants ||related to the banana.

Ravenala Madagascariensis, the principal species, is an unbranched tree with immense oarlike leaves growing alternately from two sides of the stem. The sheathing bases of the leafstalks collect and retain rain water, which flows freely when they are pierced with a knife, whence the plant is called traveler's tree.

Rav"en*er (rv"'n*r), n. 1. One who, or that which, ravens or plunders. Gower.

2. A bird of prey, as the owl or vulture. [Obs.] Holland.

Rav"en*ing, n. Eagerness for plunder; rapacity; extortion. Luke xi. 39.

Rav"en*ing, a. Greedily devouring; rapacious; as, ravening wolves. -- Rav"en*ing*ly, adv.

Rav"en*ous (rv"'n*s), a. [From 2d Raven.] 1. Devouring with rapacious eagerness; furiously voracious; hungry even to rage; as, a ravenous wolf or vulture.

2. Eager for prey or gratification; as, a ravenous appetite or desire.

-- Rav"en*ous*ly, adv. -- Rav"en*ous*ness, n.

Ra"ven's-duck` (r"v'nz-dk`), n. [Cf. G. ravenstuch.] A fine quality of sailcloth. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Rav"er (rv"r), n. One who raves.

Rav"in (rv"'n), a. Ravenous. [Obs.] Shak.

{ Rav"in, Rav"ine } (rv"'n), n. [See 2d Raven.] Food obtained by violence; plunder; prey; raven. "Fowls of ravyne." Chaucer.

Though Nature, red in tooth and claw With ravine, shrieked against his creed.

Tennyson.

{ Rav"in, Rav"ine, } v. t. & i. See Raven, v. t. & i.

Ra*vine" (r*vn"), n. [F., a place excavated by a torrent, a ravine, fr. ravir to snatch or tear away, L. rapere; cf. L. rapina rapine. See Ravish, and cf. Rapine, Raven prey.] 1. A torrent of water. [Obs.] Cotgrave.

2. A deep and narrow hollow, usually worn by a stream or torrent of water; a gorge; a mountain cleft.

Rav"ing (rv"ng), a. Talking irrationally and wildly; as, a raving lunatic. -- Rav"ing*ly, adv.

Rav"ish (rv"sh), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ravished (-sht); p. pr. & vb. n. Ravishing.] [OE. ravissen, F. ravir, fr. L. rapere to snatch or tear away, to ravish. See Rapacious, Rapid, and - ish.] 1. To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.

These hairs which thou dost ravish from my chin Will quicken, and accuse thee.

Shak.

This hand shall ravish thy pretended right.

Dryden.

2. To transport with joy or delight; to delight to ecstasy. "Ravished . . . for the joy." Chaucer.

Thou hast ravished my heart.

Cant. iv. 9.

3. To have carnal knowledge of (a woman) by force, and against her consent; to rape. Shak.

Syn. -- To transport; entrance; enrapture; delight; violate; deflour; force.

Rav"ish*er (-r), n. One who ravishes (in any sense).

Rav"ish*ing, a. Rapturous; transporting.

Rav"ish*ing*ly, adv. In a ravishing manner.

Rav"ish*ment (-ment), n. [F. ravissement. See Ravish.] 1. The act of carrying away by force or against consent; abduction; as, the ravishment of children from their parents, of a ward from his guardian, or of a wife from her husband. Blackstone.

2. The state of being ravished; rapture; transport of delight; ecstasy. Spenser.

In whose sight all things joy, with ravishment Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze.

Milton.

3. The act of ravishing a woman; rape.

Rav"is*sant (rv"s*snt), a. [F.] (Her.) In a half-raised position, as if about to spring on prey.

<! p. 1193 pr=vmg !>

Raw (r), a. [Compar. Rawer (-r); superl. Rawest.] [AS. hreáw; akin to D. raauw, LG. rau, G. roh, OHG. r, Icel. hrr, Dan. raa, Sw. rå, L. crudus, Gr. kre`as flesh, Skr. kravis raw flesh. &radic;18. Cf. Crude, Cruel.] 1. Not altered from its natural state; not prepared by the action of heat; as, raw sienna; specifically, not cooked; not changed by heat to a state suitable for eating; not done; as, raw meat.

2. Hence: Unprepared for use or enjoyment; immature; unripe; unseasoned; inexperienced; unpracticed; untried; as, raw soldiers; a raw recruit.

Approved himself to the raw judgment of the multitude.

De Quincey.

3. Not worked in due form; in the natural state; untouched by art; unwrought. Specifically: (a) Not distilled; as, raw water. [Obs.] Bacon. (b) Not spun or twisted; as, raw silk or cotton. (c) Not mixed or diluted; as, raw spirits. (d) Not tried; not melted and strained; as, raw tallow. (e) Not tanned; as, raw hides. (f) Not trimmed, covered, or folded under; as, the raw edge of a piece of metal or of cloth.

4. Not covered; bare. Specifically: (a) Bald. [Obs.] "With skull all raw." Spenser (b) Deprived of skin; galled; as, a raw sore. (c) Sore, as if by being galled.

And all his sinews waxen weak and raw Through long imprisonment.

Spenser.

5. Disagreeably damp or cold; chilly; bleak; as, a raw wind. "A raw and gusty day." Shak.

Raw material, material that has not been subjected to a (specified) process of manufacture; as, ore is the raw material used in smelting; leather is the raw material of the shoe industry. -- Raw pig, cast iron as it comes from the smelting furnace.

Raw, n. A raw, sore, or galled place; a sensitive spot; as, to touch one on the raw.

Like savage hackney coachmen, they know where there is a raw.

De Quincey.

Raw"bone` (r"bn`), a. Rawboned. [Obs.] Spenser.

Raw"boned` (-bnd`), a. Having little flesh on the bones; gaunt. Shak.

Raw"head` (r"hd`), n. A specter mentioned to frighten children; as, rawhead and bloodybones.

Raw"hide` (r"hd`), n. A cowhide, or coarse riding whip, made of untanned (or raw) hide twisted.

Raw"ish, a. Somewhat raw. [R.] Marston.

Raw"ly, adv. 1. In a raw manner; unskillfully; without experience.

2. Without proper preparation or provision. Shak.

Raw"ness, n. The quality or state of being raw.

Ray (r), v. t. [An aphetic form of array; cf. Beray.] 1. To array. [Obs.] Sir T. More.

2. To mark, stain, or soil; to streak; to defile. [Obs.] "The filth that did it ray." Spenser.

Ray, n. Array; order; arrangement; dress. [Obs.]

And spoiling all her gears and goodly ray.

Spenser.

Ray, n. [OF. rai, F. rais, fr. L. radius a beam or ray, staff, rod, spoke of a wheel. Cf. Radius.] 1. One of a number of lines or parts diverging from a common point or center, like the radii of a circle; as, a star of six rays.

2. (Bot.) A radiating part of a flower or plant; the marginal florets of a compound flower, as an aster or a sunflower; one of the pedicels of an umbel or other circular flower cluster; radius. See Radius.

3. (Zoöl.) (a) One of the radiating spines, or cartilages, supporting the fins of fishes. (b) One of the spheromeres of a radiate, especially one of the arms of a starfish or an ophiuran.

4. (Physics) (a) A line of light or heat proceeding from a radiant or reflecting point; a single element of light or heat propagated continuously; as, a solar ray; a polarized ray. (b) One of the component elements of the total radiation from a body; any definite or limited portion of the spectrum; as, the red ray; the violet ray. See Illust. under Light.

5. Sight; perception; vision; -- from an old theory of vision, that sight was something which proceeded from the eye to the object seen.

All eyes direct their rays On him, and crowds turn coxcombs as they gaze.

Pope.

6. (Geom.) One of a system of diverging lines passing through a point, and regarded as extending indefinitely in both directions. See Half-ray.

Bundle of rays. (Geom.) See Pencil of rays, below. -- Extraordinary ray (Opt.), that one of two parts of a ray divided by double refraction which does not follow the ordinary law of refraction. -- Ordinary ray (Opt.), that one of the two parts of a ray divided by double refraction which follows the usual or ordinary law of refraction. -- Pencil of rays (Geom.), a definite system of rays. -- Ray flower, or Ray floret (Bot.), one of the marginal flowers of the capitulum in such composite plants as the aster, goldenrod, daisy, and sunflower. They have an elongated, strap-shaped corolla, while the corollas of the disk flowers are tubular and five-lobed. -- Ray point (Geom.), the common point of a pencil of rays. -- Röntgen ray (rnt"gn) (Phys.), a kind of ray generated in a very highly exhausted vacuum tube by the electrical discharge. It is capable of passing through many bodies opaque to light, and producing photographic and fluorescent effects by which means pictures showing the internal structure of opaque objects are made, called radiographs, or sciagraphs.. So called from the discoverer, W. C. Röntgen. -- X ray, the Röntgen ray; -- so called by its discoverer because of its enigmatical character, x being an algebraic symbol for an unknown quantity.

Ray, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rayed (rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raying.] [Cf. OF. raier, raiier, rayer, L. radiare to irradiate. See Ray, n., and cf. Radiate.] 1. To mark with long lines; to streak. [Obs.] Chaucer.

2. [From Ray, n.] To send forth or shoot out; to cause to shine out; as, to ray smiles. [R.] Thomson.

Ray, v. i. To shine, as with rays. Mrs. Browning.

Ray, n. [F. raie, L. raia. Cf. Roach.] (Zoöl.) (a) Any one of numerous elasmobranch fishes of the order Raiæ, including the skates, torpedoes, sawfishes, etc. (b) In a restricted sense, any of the broad, flat, narrow-tailed species, as the skates and sting rays. See Skate.

Bishop ray, a yellow-spotted, long-tailed eagle ray (Stoasodon nàrinari) of the Southern United States and the West Indies. -- Butterfly ray, a short-tailed American sting ray (Pteroplatea Maclura), having very broad pectoral fins. -- Devil ray. See Sea devil. -- Eagle ray, any large ray of the family Myliobatidæ, or Ætobatidæ. The common European species (Myliobatis aquila) is called also whip ray, and miller. -- Electric ray, or Cramp ray, a torpedo. -- Starry ray, a common European skate (Raia radiata). -- Sting ray, any one of numerous species of rays of the family Trygonidæ having one or more large, sharp, barbed dorsal spines on the whiplike tail. Called also stingaree.

||Ra"yah (r"y or rä"y), n. [Ar. ra'iyah a herd, a subject, fr. ra'a to ||pasture, guard.] A person not a Mohammedan, who pays the capitation ||tax. [Turkey]

Ray" grass` (r" grs`). [Etymol. of ray is uncertain.] (Bot.) A perennial European grass (Lolium perenne); -- called also rye grass, and red darnel. See Darnel, and Grass.

Italian ray, or rye, grass. See Darnel, and Grass.

Ray"less (r"ls), a. Destitute of rays; hence, dark; not illuminated; blind; as, a rayless sky; rayless eyes.

Ray"on (r"n), n. [F.] Ray; beam. [Obs.] Spenser.

Ray"on*nant (r"n*nnt), a. [F.] (Her.) Darting forth rays, as the sun when it shines out.

Raze (rz), n. [See Race.] A Shakespearean word (used once) supposed to mean the same as race, a root.