x-ray tube

noun

1. an electronic tube for producing x-rays, essentially a cathode-ray tube in which a metal target is bombarded with high-energy electrons.

X-ray tube

noun

1. an evacuated tube containing a metal target onto which is directed a beam of electrons at high energy for the generation of X-rays

Word History and Origins

Origin of x-ray tube¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Using an industrial computed tomography scanner, which is sort of like an MRI machine but with a rotating X-ray tube, the researchers blasted the Cratonavis skull with 150 kilovolts of beam energy.

From Salon

In CT machines, an X-ray tube rotates around the patient, taking multiple images of the body’s innards.

From Scientific American

In CT machines, an X-ray tube rotates around the patient, taking multiple images of the body’s innards.

From Nature

Then the boy soon pops up on the exit side of security as he emerges out of the X-ray tube.

From Fox News

There was such anxiety around the dangers the rays might pose that Mr. Thomson exposed two of his fingers to an X-ray tube to prove that they were not harmless.

From New York Times