Definition

1. Noun:

   • The star at the center of our solar system: The Sun is the luminous celestial body around which the Earth and other planets orbit, providing light and heat.
   • The light or warmth from this star: "Sun" can refer to the rays or the heat emitted by the Sun, such as sunlight.
   • Any star that is the center of a planetary system: In astronomy, any star with orbiting planets can be called a sun.
   • A source of glory, warmth, or energy (figurative): Used metaphorically to describe a person or thing that is a brilliant or central source of inspiration.

2. Verb:

   • To expose something to sunlight: The act of placing something in the sun, often to warm, dry, or bleach it.
   • To expose one's body to sunlight: To bask or lie in the sun, typically for warmth or to get a tan.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The sun rises in the east. (The star providing our daylight appears above the eastern horizon.)
  • We sat in the sun to get warm. (We sat in the sunlight for warmth.)
  • Scientists are searching for other suns with habitable planets. (Astronomers look for other stars with planetary systems.)
  • She was the sun of his life. (She was the central, bright source of happiness in his life.)

• Verb:

  • She sunned the blankets on the clothesline. (She placed the blankets in the sunlight to air them out.)
  • The cat loves to sun itself on the windowsill. (The cat enjoys lying in the sunlight on the windowsill.)

Advanced Usage

• "A place in the sun": A position of favor, advantage, or success.
  • After years of hard work, she finally found her place in the sun.
• "Make hay while the sun shines": To take advantage of an opportunity while it lasts.
  • The market is good now, so we should make hay while the sun shines.
• "Under the sun": An expression meaning "in the world" or "existing," used for emphasis.
  • We talked about every topic under the sun.

Variants and Related Words

• Sunny (adj): Bright with or characterized by sunlight; cheerful.
  • It was a sunny day with clear blue skies.
• Sunlight (n): The light that comes from the sun.
  • The room was filled with morning sunlight.
• Sunbathe (v): To sit or lie in the sun to get a tan.
  • They went to the beach to sunbathe.

Synonyms

• Star (specifically for the astronomical sense).
• Sunlight, Sunshine (for the light/heat).
• Bask (for the verb sense of exposing oneself).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Sun oneself: To bask or lie in the sun.
  • The lizard was sunning itself on the rock.

Related Idioms

• Everything but the kitchen sink: Similar in exhaustive emphasis to "everything under the sun."
• The sun sets on something: Something is ending or in decline.
  • It seemed the sun had set on the era of great explorers.

Noun

1. first day of the week; observed as a day of rest and worship by most Christians
2. any star around which a planetary system revolves
3. a person considered as a source of warmth or energy or glory etc
4. the rays of the sun
   • the shingles were weathered by the sun and wind
5. the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
   • the sun contains 99.85% of the mass in the solar system
   • the Earth revolves around the Sun

Verb

1. expose to the rays of the sun or affect by exposure to the sun
   • insolated paper may turn yellow and crumble
   • These herbs suffer when sunned
2. expose one's body to the sun