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

Derived Forms

• ˈsunˌbeamed, adjective

Other Words From

• sunbeamed sunbeamy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sunbeam¹

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

Example Sentences

By the time I was home again, the New Yorker clipping was browning around the edges from the sunbeams that came through our big kitchen windows, making it look like a neglected pancake.

From Outside Online

To quantify this aperiodic activity, scientists break down the raw EEG data, much as a prism can decompose a sunbeam into a rainbow of different colors.

From Quanta Magazine

When the sun warms your face, it’s shooting more than just sunbeams at your skin.

From Popular-Science

When the first sunbeam gleamed through the window of Bat's tiny kitchen, I arose, pulled on my boots and went to feed my horse.

From Project Gutenberg

He likes to hear me talk though; I have made several bright remarks for the pleasure of the sunbeam in his eyes.

From Project Gutenberg

The unintercepted sunbeam struck his eyes at five and speedily woke him.

From Project Gutenberg

Again was Ida thrown off her guard, and the smile that answered irradiated her face like a sudden sunbeam.

From Project Gutenberg

I watched you dart like a sunbeam into the forest, so I followed with my slow speed to give you warning.'

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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