sunbeam
Americannoun
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a beam or ray of sunlight.
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Australian Slang. a dish or utensil that has not been used during a meal and so does not have to be washed.
noun
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a beam, ray, or stream of sunlight
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slang a piece of crockery or cutlery laid for a meal but remaining unused
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sunbeam
before 1000; Middle English sunnebem, Old English sun ( ne ) bēam. See sun, beam
Vocabulary lists containing sunbeam
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.
It was a sunbeam of grace in the confrontational hellscape we call modern society.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
As Voyager 1 raced past Neptune on its way out of the Solar System, it turned its cameras back towards Earth and photographed a tiny speck, gleaming in a sunbeam.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 18, 2023
It is not a sunny sky, but a sunbeam: energy focused into a patch of hopeful light.
From New York Times ● May 23, 2023
If you’re in the car and your phone is sitting on the passenger seat in a sunbeam, you’ll notice how much faster your battery drains.
From Fox News ● Oct. 24, 2021
A sunbeam spotlighted the rise and fall of his white belly.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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.
