awning
Americannoun
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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.
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a shelter.
noun
Other Word Forms
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.
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
A black-and-white awning over the steps that lead to our front door, for rain and sun protection.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026
Renderings of the structure, which is situated in Symphony Park, show a cubed modernist building with a large awning that stretches over a bustling entry plaza to provide shade.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2025
Then he notices that there is a girl standing some paces away, also sheltered beneath the awning, and she is poring over the pages of a notebook that he is quite certain is his own.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
