RUBY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ruby mean? 

• RUBY (noun)
  The noun RUBY has 3 senses:

1. a transparent piece of ruby that has been cut and polished and is valued as a precious gem

2. a transparent deep red variety of corundum; used as a gemstone and in lasers

3. a deep and vivid red color

  Familiarity information: RUBY used as a noun is uncommon.

• RUBY (adjective)
  The adjective RUBY has 1 sense:

1. of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies

  Familiarity information: RUBY used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUBY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A transparent piece of ruby that has been cut and polished and is valued as a precious gem

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("ruby" is a kind of...):

gem; jewel; precious stone (a precious or semiprecious stone incorporated into a piece of jewelry)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A transparent deep red variety of corundum; used as a gemstone and in lasers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("ruby" is a kind of...):

corundom; corundum (very hard mineral used as an abrasive)

transparent gem (a gemstone having the property of transmitting light without serious diffusion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A deep and vivid red color

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

crimson; deep red; ruby

Hypernyms ("ruby" is a kind of...):

red; redness (red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood)

Derivation:

rubify (make ruby red)

• RUBY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies

Synonyms:

blood-red; carmine; cerise; cherry; cherry-red; crimson; red; reddish; ruby; ruby-red; ruddy; scarlet

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

 Context examples 

Clouds on the massive exoplanet HAT-P-7b could be made of rubies and sapphires, new research suggests.

(Exoplanet Could Have Clouds of Rubies, Sapphires, VOA)

Diamonds and rubies are gone, spread out on the deck to be washed away by a bucket of sea-water, and he does not even know that the diamonds and rubies are gone.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Glinda the Good stepped down from her ruby throne to give the little girl a good-bye kiss, and Dorothy thanked her for all the kindness she had shown to her friends and herself.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

These materials might even form clouds and rain down as liquid metals and fluidic rubies.

(Water Is Destroyed, Then Reborn in Ultrahot Jupiters, NASA/JPL)

Whilst he was speaking the landlady came in again, bearing a broad platter, upon which stood all the beakers and flagons charged to the brim with the brown ale or the ruby wine.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And yet his work stands out from the ruck of the contemporary versifiers as a balas ruby among carrots.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The ears are long with abundant feathering, and it has a silky coat, sometimes with a slight waviness that comes in ruby, black and tan, tri-color and blenheim (chestnut on a pearly-white background).

(Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, NCI Thesaurus)

It was found in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is blue in shade instead of ruby red.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yet it was merely a very pretty drawing-room, and within it a boudoir, both spread with white carpets, on which seemed laid brilliant garlands of flowers; both ceiled with snowy mouldings of white grapes and vine-leaves, beneath which glowed in rich contrast crimson couches and ottomans; while the ornaments on the pale Parian mantelpiece were of sparkling Bohemian glass, ruby red; and between the windows large mirrors repeated the general blending of snow and fire.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)