The difference between Gleam and Ray

When used as nouns, gleam means a small or indistinct shaft or stream of light, whereas ray means a beam of light or radiation.

When used as verbs, gleam means to shine, whereas ray means to emit something as if in rays.

check bellow for the other definitions of Gleam and Ray

Gleam as a noun:

a small or indistinct shaft or stream of light.
Gleam as a noun:

a glimpse or hint; an indistinct sign of something.

Examples:

"The rescue workers preserved a gleam of optimism that they might still survive."
Gleam as a noun:

brightness or shininess; splendor.

Ray as a noun:

A beam of light or radiation.

Examples:

"I saw a ray of light through the clouds."
Ray as a noun (zoology):

A rib-like reinforcement of bone or cartilage in a fish's fin.
Ray as a noun (zoology):

One of the spheromeres of a radiate, especially one of the arms of a starfish or an ophiuran.
Ray as a noun (botany):

A radiating part of a flower or plant; the marginal florets of a compound flower, such as an aster or a sunflower; one of the pedicels of an umbel or other circular flower cluster; radius.
Ray as a noun (obsolete):

Sight; perception; vision; from an old theory of vision, that sight was something which proceeded from the eye to the object seen.
Ray as a noun (mathematics):

A line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point.
Ray as a noun (colloquial):

A tiny amount.

Examples:

"Unfortunately he didn't have a ray of hope''."

Ray as a noun:

A marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail.

Ray as a verb (obsolete):

To arrange.
Ray as a verb (now, _, rare):

To dress, array (someone).

Examples:

"rfquotek Sir T. More"
Ray as a verb (obsolete):

To stain or soil; to defile.

Ray as a noun:

The letter ⟨/⟩, one of two which represent the r sound in Pitman shorthand.