sun

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The star around which Earth and other planets orbit. It provides heat and light to Earth. It has a mean distance from Earth of about 150 million kilometers (93 million miles), a diameter of approximately 1,392,000 kilometers (865,000 miles), and a mass about 335,000 times that of Earth.
• noun A star that is the center of a planetary system.
• noun The radiant energy, especially heat and visible light, emitted by the sun; sunshine.
• noun A sunlike object, representation, or design.
• intransitive verb To expose to the sun's rays, as for warming, drying, or tanning.
• intransitive verb To expose oneself or itself to the sun.
• idiom (in the sun) In the public eye.
• idiom (under the sun) On the earth; in the world.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun See sunn.
• To expose to the sun's rays; warm or dry in the sunshine; insolate: as, to sun cloth.
• To become warm or dry in the sunshine.
• noun A Japanese measure of length, equal to of a meter, or 1.19 inches.
• noun An amended spelling of son.
• noun The central body of the solar system, around which the earth and other planets revolve, retained in their orbits by its attraction, and supplied with energy by its radiance.
• noun The sunshine; a sunny place; a place where the beams of the sun fall: as, to stand in the sun (that is, to stand where the direct rays of the sun fall).
• noun Anything eminently splendid or luminous : that which is the chief source of light, honor, glory, or prosperity.
• noun The luminary or orb which constitutes the center of any system of worlds: as, the fixed stars may be suns in their respective systems.
• noun A revolution of the earth round the sun; a year.
• noun The rising of the sun; sunrise; day.
• noun In heraldry, a bearing representing the sun, usually surrounded by rays.
• noun In electric lighting, a group of incandescent lamps arranged concentrically under a reflector at, near, or in the ceiling of a room or auditorium.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Bot.) See sunn.
• transitive verb To expose to the sun's rays; to warm or dry in the sun
• noun The luminous orb, the light of which constitutes day, and its absence night; the central body round which the earth and planets revolve, by which they are held in their orbits, and from which they receive light and heat. Its mean distance from the earth is about 92,500,000 miles, and its diameter about 860,000.
• noun Any heavenly body which forms the center of a system of orbs.
• noun The direct light or warmth of the sun; sunshine.
• noun That which resembles the sun, as in splendor or importance; any source of light, warmth, or animation.
• noun (Mach.) an ingenious contrivance for converting reciprocating motion, as that of the working beam of a steam engine, into rotatory motion. It consists of a toothed wheel (called the sun wheel), firmly secured to the shaft it is desired to drive, and another wheel (called the planet wheel) secured to the end of a connecting rod. By the motion of the connecting rod, the planet wheel is made to circulate round the central wheel on the shaft, communicating to this latter a velocity of revolution the double of its own.
• noun (Zoöl.) a South American humming bird of the genus Heliangelos, noted for its beautiful colors and the brilliant luster of the feathers of its throat.
• noun (Zoöl.) See Heliozoa.
• noun (Med.) exposure of a patient to the sun's rays; insolation.
• noun (Zoöl.) a species of bear (Helarctos Malayanus) native of Southern Asia and Borneo. It has a small head and short neck, and fine short glossy fur, mostly black, but brownish on the nose. It is easily tamed. Called also bruang, and Malayan bear.
• noun (Zoöl.) any small lustrous beetle of the genus Amara.
• noun (Zoöl.) a singular South American bird (Eurypyga helias), in some respects related both to the rails and herons. It is beautifully variegated with white, brown, and black. Called also sunbird, and tiger bittern.
• noun (Med.) the condition of fever produced by sun stroke.
• noun (Zoöl.) a Brazilian humming bird (Heliactin cornutus). Its head is ornamented by two tufts of bright colored feathers, fiery crimson at the base and greenish yellow at the tip. Called also Horned hummer.
• noun (Zoöl.) the finfoot.
• noun a picture taken by the agency of the sun's rays; a photograph.
• noun (Astron.) dark spots that appear on the sun's disk, consisting commonly of a black central portion with a surrounding border of lighter shade, and usually seen only by the telescope, but sometimes by the naked eye. They are very changeable in their figure and dimensions, and vary in size from mere apparent points to spaces of 50,000 miles in diameter. The term sun spots is often used to include bright spaces (called faculæ) as well as dark spaces (called maculæ). Called also solar spots. See Illustration in Appendix.
• noun (Zoöl.) any one of several species of starfishes belonging to Solaster, Crossaster, and allied genera, having numerous rays.
• noun (Zoöl.) the squeteague.
• noun (Mach.) See Sun and planet wheels, above.
• noun in the world; on earth.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun first day of the week; observed as a day of rest and worship by most Christians
• noun the rays of the sun
• noun the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
• noun a person considered as a source of warmth or energy or glory etc
• noun any star around which a planetary system revolves
• verb expose to the rays of the sun or affect by exposure to the sun
• verb expose one's body to the sun