X-ray

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A photograph of the inside of the body, made using invisible rays that pass through it.

   The doctor ordered some X-rays of my injured wrist.

2. 2
   noun

   A type of invisible radiation that can pass through solid objects and is used to make medical images.

   X-rays let doctors see broken bones without surgery.

3. 3
   verb

   To take a photograph of the inside of something using X-rays.

   The nurse x-rayed my chest before the operation.

4. 4
   adj

   Relating to or using X-rays.

   I had to put my bags through an X-ray scanner at the airport.

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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