Definitions

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

  • noun Inflammation or blistering of the skin caused by overexposure to direct sunlight.
  • transitive & intransitive verb To affect or be affected with sunburn.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A burning or scorching by the sun; especially, the tan occasioned by the exposure of the skin to the action of the sun's rays.
  • noun In botany, same as heliosis.
  • To discolor or scorch by the sun; tan: said especially of the skin or complexion.
  • To be discolored or tanned by the sun.
  • noun The injury to the leaves or bark of plants produced by the hot sun causing excessive or too rapid evaporation of the water content of the cells, and thus killing the tissues, which become brown. The tips and margins of rapidly growing leaves and the cambium layer of the bark of young trees are most frequently affected. Also called sun-scald. Compare heliosis.

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

  • noun The burning or discoloration produced on the skin by the heat of the sun; tan.
  • transitive verb To burn or discolor by the sun; to tan.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A burn on the skin caused by excess exposure to the sun's rays.
  • verb intransitive To receive a sunburn.

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

  • verb get a sunburn by overexposure to the sun
  • noun redness of the skin caused by exposure to the rays of the sun
  • noun a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The best way to prevent sunburn is to always wear sunscreen with SPF protection.

    Sunburn And Sun Safety 2008

  • The best way to prevent sunburn is to always wear sunscreen with SPF protection.

    Sunburn And Sun Safety 2008

  • The best way to prevent sunburn is to always wear sunscreen with SPF protection.

    Sunburn And Sun Safety 2008

  • An old wives tale promoted raw potato to treat sunburn is one of the things we read when researching about 12 years ago and decided to make a soap with actual potato.

    Potato Soap!?! Anne-Marie 2008

  • The best way to prevent sunburn is to always wear sunscreen with SPF protection.

    Sunburn And Sun Safety 2008

  • Redheads get more common the farther out in the Atlantic you go because the skies are more overcast, so the chance of a bad sunburn is less.

    Whatever happened to redheads? Steve Sailer 2004

  • But I can get a bad sunburn, which is brand new for me ...

    CNN Transcript Jan 7, 2008 2008

  • My sunburn is the biggest of my problems, so it turned out well too.

    naima101 Diary Entry naima101 2005

  • UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it makes no more sense to have a sunburn, which is an injury to your skin, than it is to put your hand in scalding water.

    CNN Transcript May 31, 2004 2004

  • BALCH: You know, it makes no more sense to have a sunburn, which is an injury to your skin, than it is to put your hand in scalding water.

    CNN Transcript Jul 3, 2004 2004

Comments

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  • ...these poor sun-burnt mariners, bare-footed, and with their trowsers rolled high up on their eely legs...

    - Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 90

    July 29, 2008