ruby Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a transparent piece of ruby that has been cut and polished and is valued as a precious gem
  2. noun a transparent deep red variety of corundum; used as a gemstone and in lasers
  3. noun a deep and vivid red color
    crimson; deep red.
  4. adjective satellite of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies
    reddish; scarlet; cherry; crimson; blood-red; cerise; cherry-red; carmine; ruby-red; red; ruddy.

WordNet


Ru"by noun
Etymology
F. rubis (cf. Pr. robi), LL. rubinus, robinus, fr. L. rubeus red, reddish, akin to ruber. See Rouge, red.
Wordforms
plural Rubies
Definitions
  1. (Min.) A precious stone of a carmine red color, sometimes verging to violet, or intermediate between carmine and hyacinth red. It is a red crystallized variety of corundum. ✍ Besides the true or Oriental ruby above defined, there are the balas ruby, or ruby spinel, a red variety of spinel, and the rock ruby, a red variety of garnet. artificially produced variants are used in jewelry and in lasers.
    Of rubies, sapphires, and pearles white. Chaucer.
  2. The color of a ruby; carmine red; a red tint.
    The natural ruby of your cheeks. Shak.
  3. That which has the color of the ruby, as red wine. Hence, a red blain or carbuncle.
  4. (Print.) See Agate, n., 2. Eng.
  5. (Zoöl.) Any species of South American humming birds of the genus Clytolæma. The males have a ruby-colored throat or breast.
Ru"by adjective
Definitions
  1. Ruby-colored; red; as, ruby lips.
Ru"by transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Rubied ; present participle & verbal noun Rubying
Definitions
  1. To make red; to redden. R. Pope.

Webster 1913