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
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:
"The signboard and the awning at the front could be blown off. If the winds get stronger, we'll bring everything inside."
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 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
But recently, the center has seen a pattern of dog feces being thrown in front of and onto the awning of the building’s entrance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2025
Sierra thanked him, grabbed a pack of gum and an icey at Carlos’s bodega, and then leaned against the wall in the shade of the red awning.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
"Some caravan awnings came into grief, there were burst and bent poles and we had a gazebo that was upside down and in a very sorry shape," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
The father of a friend of mine, who owned a franchise for a company that sold aluminum awnings, qualified as a borax man.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
Canopies and awnings are subject to onerous permitting rules.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2025
They look oddly like awnings or perhaps pennants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2024
Store awnings and windows, sides of trucks, even neon signs, are peppered with wayward apostrophes that either don’t belong at all or are in the wrong position.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
