sunbeam

[suhn-beem]

noun

1. a beam or ray of sunlight.

2. Australian Slang.,  a dish or utensil that has not been used during a meal and so does not have to be washed.

sunbeam

/ ˈsʌnˌbiːm /

noun

1. a beam, ray, or stream of sunlight

2. slang,  a piece of crockery or cutlery laid for a meal but remaining unused

Other Word Forms

• sunbeamed adjective
• sunbeamy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sunbeam¹

before 1000; Middle English sunnebem, Old English sun ( ne ) bēam. See sun, beam

Example Sentences

The classrooms are also bathed in daylight via skylights and clerestories, with sunbeams touching the playfully angled surfaces.

From Los Angeles Times

Mom gave him a look that was all sunbeams.

From Literature

On a frigid Wednesday afternoon, sunbeams poured into Maurice Sendak’s studio in Ridgefield, Conn., crisscrossing one another with the precision and warmth of the children’s books that were born in this room.

From New York Times

A sunbeam spotlighted the rise and fall of his white belly.

From Literature

As Voyager 1 raced past Neptune on its way out of the Solar System, it turned its cameras back towards Earth and photographed a tiny speck, gleaming in a sunbeam.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• bulb 
• candle 
• daylight 
• flash 
• glare 
• glow 
• lamp 
• lantern 
• radiation 
• ray 
• star 
• sun 
• sunshine 
• window