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sunshine - 7 dictionary results

sun⋅shine

  [suhn-shahyn]
Use sunshine in a Sentence
–noun
1. the shining of the sun; direct light of the sun.
2. brightness or radiance; cheerfulness or happiness.
3. a source of cheer or happiness.
4. the effect of the sun in lighting and heating a place.
5. a place where the direct rays of the sun fall.
–adjective
6. of or pertaining to sunshine laws: sunshine rules.
7. fair-weather (def. 2).
Origin:
1200–50; ME sunnesin; see sun, shine

Related forms:
sunshineless, adjective
sunshiny, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sunshine
sun·shine   (sŭn'shīn')   
n.  
    1. The light or the direct rays from the sun.
    2. The warmth given by the sun's rays.
    3. A location or surface on which the sun's rays fall.
    4. Radiant cheerfulness; geniality.
    5. A source of cheerfulness.
    1. Radiant cheerfulness; geniality.
    2. A source of cheerfulness.
adj.  Requiring governmental bodies to hold open meetings and sometimes to permit public access to records: a sunshine law.
sun'shin'y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sunshine

Sun"shine`\, n. 1. The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.

But all sunshine, as when his beams at noon Culminate from the equator. --Milton.

2. Anything which has a warming and cheering influence like that of the rays of the sun; warmth; illumination; brightness.

That man that sits within a monarch's heart, And ripens in the sunshine of his favor. --Shak.

Sunshine

Sun"shine`\, a. Sunshiny; bright. --Shak. "Sunshine hours." --Keble.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : sunshine
Spanish: luz del sol,
German: der Sonnenschein,
Japanese: 日光
More Translations »

sunshine 
c.1250, from sun (n.) + shine. Sunshine law in ref. to U.S. open meeting legislation is recorded from 1972, from the notion of shining the light of public access on deliberations formerly held behind closed doors.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: sun·shine
Function: adjective
: forbidding or restricting closed meetings of legislative or executive bodies and sometimes providing for public access to government records <sunshine laws> —see also Freedom of Information Act in the IMPORTANT LAWS section
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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sunshine

solar radiation that is visible at the Earth's surface. The amount of sunlight is dependent on the extent of the daytime cloud cover. Some places on the Earth receive more than 4,000 hours per year of sunlight (more than 90 percent of the maximum possible), as in the Sahara; others receive less than 2,000 hours, as in regions of frequent storminess, such as Scotland and Iceland. Over much of the middle-latitude region of the world, the amount of sunlight varies regularly as the day progresses, owing to greater cloud cover in the early morning and during the late afternoon.

Learn more about sunshine with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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