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Definition of "sun" [sun]

  • A star that is the basis of the solar system and that sustains life on Earth, being the source of heat and light. It has a mean distance from Earth of about 150 million kilometers (93 million miles) a diameter of approximately 1,390,000 kilometers (864,000 miles) and a mass about 330,000 times that of Earth. (noun)
  • A star that is the center of a planetary system. (noun)
  • The radiant energy, especially heat and visible light, emitted by the sun; sunshine. (noun)
  • A sunlike object, representation, or design. (noun)
  • To expose to the sun's rays, as for warming, drying, or tanning. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "sun" in a sentence
  • "As soon, however, as the vaporised matter is expelled from the nucleus towards the sun, it is met by the centrifugal motion of the electro-magnetic Aether which proceeds _from the sun_, and this pressure of the aetherial waves on the advancing comet acts as a repelling power, literally repelling the vaporised matter from the sun, and thus giving rise to the existence of its tail."
  • "_There be delights_, _there be recreations and jolly pastimes that will fetch the day about from sun to sun_, _and rock the tedious year as in a delightful dream_."
  • "_Midsummer: _ With us, the time when the sun arrives at his greatest distance from the equator, or about the twenty-first of June, called, also the summer solstice, (from the Latin _sol, the sun_ and _sto, to stop_ or _stand still_,) because when the sun reaches this point he seems to stand still for some time, and then appears to retrace his steps."