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place in the sun

Idioms  
  1. A dominant or favorable position or situation, as in The Nobel prizewinners really enjoyed their place in the sun. This term may have been coined about 1660 by the French philosopher Blaise Pascal but became well known only in the late 1800s, when it was applied to Germany's position in world affairs, especially concerning its desire for more lands.


Example Sentences

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By 2016, those owners who had enjoyed their guaranteed place in the sun for 20 or 30 years were ageing, and many were looking to wave goodbye to their timeshares.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2025

He basked, aviators firmly in place, in the sun.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 10, 2022

“By virtue of that, a record just feels older quicker; it doesn’t have its place in the sun for long, because there’s new canopy growth. Everyone’s trying to get a bit of sunshine.”

From The Guardian ● Sep. 19, 2019

The iconic film starred Sandra Dee as Francine Lawrence, who finds her place in the sun among a tight-knit clan of Malibu surfers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2019

“But when I found a place in the sun where I could read, a beautiful girl came along and kept me from doing anything of the sort,” Bast finished with a flourish.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

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