awning
Americannoun
-
awnings
plural
-
a rooflike shelter of canvas or other material extending over a doorway, from the top of a window, over a deck, etc., in order to provide protection, as from the sun.
-
a shelter.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of awning
First recorded in 1615–25; origin uncertain
Explanation
An awning is a covering that's like a roof or extends from a roof. If you walk down a street with a lot of stores and it starts raining, you'll probably try to stay under the awnings. An awning provides shelter from rain and sun. You will often see awnings extending over the entryways of businesses. Under an awning is a place you can hang out as you collapse your umbrella on your way in, or as you open your umbrella on your way out. Awnings are often made from some type of canvas, and they protrude from the top of the store or building, kind of like the brim of a cap, which has a similar function.
Vocabulary lists containing awning
The First Rule of Punk
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From the Desk of Zoe Washington
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The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For Mohammad, in t-shirt and jeans, even cranking open the striped awning of his family's shoe shop is an act of hope.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
In Naypyidaw, the collapsed concrete awning of the main hospital's emergency department -- which crushed a car when it came down -- has been replaced with a new, lighter structure, with a plastic roof.
From Barron's ● Mar. 26, 2026
Under one straw awning, Noureldin leaned on a crutch, still weak from his injuries.
From Barron's ● Mar. 22, 2026
And because the gas pump wasn’t covered by an overhead awning, he was also soaking wet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 3, 2026
Just before he comes to the covered awning and the automatic doors, he looks up into the sky.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
Tidy general stores, ice cream parlors and a Main Street lined with striped awnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Reflective films, blinds, shutters, awnings and shaded roofs can all reduce heat gain.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
Sitting on folding chairs and under portable awnings or standing on concrete steps and bridges, the crowd seemed to stretch from the water’s edge to the horizon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
Outside, under the library's awnings are sacks filled with an estimated 800,000 books, still waiting to be unpacked.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
Now it’s just a nice building with green-and-white awnings that the mayor calls a sign of “our city’s commitment to destination tourism.”
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
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.
