(often initial capital letter) the star that is the central body of the earth's solar system, around which the planets revolve and from which they receive light and heat: its mean distance from the earth is about 93 million miles (150 million km), its diameter about 864,000 miles (1.4 million km), and its mass about 330,000 times that of the earth; its period of surface rotation is about 25 days at its equator but longer at higher latitudes.
the sun considered with reference to its position in the sky, its visibility, the season of the year, the time at which or the place where it is seen, etc.
a star, especially one that has planets and other celestial bodies revolving around it.
Many other solar systems have multiple suns, while ours has just one.
sunshine; the heat and light from the sun.
to be exposed to the sun.
a figure or representation of the sun, as a heraldic bearing usually surrounded with rays and marked with the features of a human face.
something likened to the sun in brightness, splendor, etc.
Chiefly Literary.
clime; climate.
glory; splendor.
sunrise or sunset.
They traveled hard from sun to sun.
Archaic.
a day.
a year.
to expose to the sun's rays.
to warm, dry, etc., in the sunshine.
to put, bring, make, etc., by exposure to the sun.
under the sun, on earth; anywhere.
the most beautiful city under the sun.
place in the sun, a favorable or advantageous position; prominence; recognition.
The new generation of writers has achieved a place in the sun.
against the sun, counterclockwise.
with the sun, clockwise.
the star at the centre of our solar system. It is a gaseous body having a highly compressed core, in which energy is generated by thermonuclear reactions (at about 15 million kelvins), surrounded by less dense radiative and convective zones serving to transport the energy to the surface (the photosphere ). The atmospheric layers (the chromosphere and corona ) are normally invisible except during a total eclipse. Mass and diameter: 333 000 and 109 times that of earth respectively; mean distance from earth: 149.6 million km (1 astronomical unit)
any star around which a planetary system revolves
the sun as it appears at a particular time or place
the winter sun
the radiant energy, esp heat and light, received from the sun; sunshine
a person or thing considered as a source of radiant warmth, glory, etc
a pictorial representation of the sun, often depicted with a human face
poetic a year or a day
poetic a climate
archaic sunrise or sunset (esp in the phrase from sun to sun )
to become slightly sunburnt
a prominent or favourable position
nautical to measure the altitude of the sun in order to determine latitude
slight sunstroke
on earth; at all
nobody under the sun eats more than you do
to expose (oneself) to the sunshine
(tr) to expose to the sunshine in order to warm, tan, etc
Often Sun. A medium-sized, main-sequence star located in a spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy, orbited by all of the planets and other bodies in our solar system and supplying the heat and light that sustain life on Earth. Its diameter is approximately 1,392,000 million km (865,000 mi), and its mass, about 330,000 times that of Earth, comprises more than 99 percent of the matter in the solar system. It has a temperature of some 5.7 million degrees C (28.3 million degrees F) at its core, where nuclear fusion produces tremendous amounts of energy, mainly through the series of reactions known as the proton-proton chain. The energy generated in the core radiates through a radiation zone to an opaque convection zone, where it rises to the surface through convection currents of the Sun's plasma. The Sun's surface temperature (at its photosphere) is approximately 6,200 degrees C (11,200 degrees F). Turbulent surface phenomena analogous to the Earth's weather are prevalent, including magnetic storms, sunspots, and solar flares. The Sun was formed along with the rest of the solar system about 4.5 billion years ago and is expected to run out of its current hydrogen fuel in another 5 billion years, at which point it will develop into a red giant and ultimately into a white dwarf.
See Table at solar system See Note at dwarf star
The sun is about 4.5 billion years old and is expected to remain in its present state for approximately another six billion years; it will eventually evolve into a white dwarf.
First recorded before 900; Middle English sonne, sun(e), son(e), Old English sunne; cognate with German Sonne, Old Norse sunna, Gothic sunno; akin to Old Norse sōl, Gothic sauil, Latin sōl, Greek hḗlios, Welsh haul, Lithuanian saũlė, Polish słońce
The sun is the star that our planet revolves around. You might enjoy sitting under the sun on a tropical beach — but be sure to put on plenty of sunscreen. Our sun is more than 100 times larger than the Earth. If it weren't for the sun, the brightest object in our solar system, there would be no life on Earth: the light that the sun provides grows the food we eat and the heat of the sun keeps our environment warm enough to live. The sun is also responsible for the Earth's liquid water, which would be ice without it. As a verb, to sun means "to sit in the sun." The word comes from the Old English sunne.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Even the sun here is black like my lungs," she said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
One of the driving questions that the James Webb Space Telescope is being used to answer is whether planets orbiting stars much smaller than the sun have atmospheres.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
Ortiz and six other spy-saboteurs, “their hands and faces already darkened by the unyielding sun, donned gandouras and turbans—what the famed T.E. Lawrence dubbed ‘Arab kit’—mounted a string of camels and rode south.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
“Having a game in these conditions feels like we’re flying too close to the sun, both literally and figuratively.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
She squinted against the burning midsummer late-afternoon sun that glinted in at a hard angle through the window.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
"I can't see the Sun. There is a horrible smoke. It's still there. I'm very tired," she told BBC Persian on Saturday.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026
“These cycles affect the amount of sunlight and therefore, energy, that Earth absorbs from the Sun. Milankovitch cycles have played an important role in climatic changes during Earth’s history,” Greene wrote.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2022
“But I don’t work for the Mohegan Sun. I work for you.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2022
“I named it Sun. It lingered far longer than my friendship with the bride, and far far longer than her marriage,” she wrote.
From Fox News ● Dec. 25, 2019
“And you were right. It was incredible. I just— I felt so bad for Essa after the Battle for the Sun. But when leaving her best friend was the only way to save the kingdom?”
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
At its peak, it temporarily radiated with the brilliance of about 10 billion suns.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
In Nepal's eastern plains, rival political flags depicting blue bells and red suns flutter over tea farms and brick homes -- symbols of a local election campaign shaping landmark nationwide polls.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
The background of the artwork echoes Van Gogh's Starry Night with two suns hanging in the sky that aim to represent the meeting of the two artists and their styles.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2025
Seems bright — a black hole flared with the light of 10 trillion suns.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2025
Apart from the line of copper suns that ornamented his belt, the Domishman was plainly dressed.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
A barred owl hooted and shook its feathers in a sycamore above the creek, and red-bellied cooters sunned themselves on half-submerged logs.
From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2026
Because the home has been staged, buyers won’t be able to sit at the very kitchen table where the Kardashian clan gossiped over salads, or the poolside lounges where they often sunned themselves.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 17, 2026
She settled on a grassy knoll, sunned herself and took a nap.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2023
On a recent afternoon, two tourists — cousins from Sao Paulo — sunned on a wooden pier after bathing in the Rio Negro.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2021
Below it, in a deep pit, alligators sunned themselves on rocks surrounding a pond.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
On the banks of the Waal, the Dutch branch of the Rhine, swimmers are sunning themselves on a Nijmegen beach that didn't exist before the river level dropped a few months ago.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
On an unseasonably warm afternoon, families flocked to the waterfront, sunning themselves before an azure-blue Mediterranean.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2026
He found the Cynic sunning himself beside his ceramic home and offered to grant the man any favor or fulfill any request.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
While sunning herself on the beach with Uncle Bryn, Smithy, Nessa and the rest of the Shipman-West crew, she conceded maybe Barry Island wasn't so bad after all.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2024
The turtle ignored him and settled down on the sand, where she lay sunning herself, occasionally moving her head as if to catch the best rays.
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
