Library / English Dictionary

SUNBURN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Redness of the skin caused by exposure to the rays of the sun

Synonyms:

erythema solare; sunburn

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("sunburn" is a kind of...):

erythema (abnormal redness of the skin resulting from dilation of blood vessels (as in sunburn or inflammation))

first-degree burn (burn causing redness of the skin surface)

Derivation:

sunburn (get a sunburn by overexposure to the sun)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun

Synonyms:

burn; sunburn; suntan; tan

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("sunburn" is a kind of...):

hyperpigmentation (unusual darkening of the skin)

Derivation:

sunburn (get a sunburn by overexposure to the sun)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Get a sunburn by overexposure to the sun

Synonyms:

burn; sunburn

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "sunburn" is one way to...):

color; colour; discolor; discolour (change color, often in an undesired manner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

sunburn (redness of the skin caused by exposure to the rays of the sun)

sunburn (a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Individuals who never tan and always sunburn if exposed to any appreciable amount of sunlight, primarily red headed individuals and lightly complected blondes.

(Fitzpatrick Skin Type I, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A peeling off or loss of epidermis, as in sunburn, postscarlatinal peeling, or toxic epidermal necrolysis.

(Peeling, NCI Thesaurus)

It refers almost exclusively to skin photosensitivity, including sunburn, reactions due to repeated prolonged exposure in the absence of photosensitizing factors, and reactions requiring photosensitizing factors such as photosensitizing agents and certain diseases.

(Photodermatitis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Some are available over-the-counter (without a doctor’s order) and may help lessen local pain, irritation, and itching caused by conditions such as cold sores, sunburn, poison ivy, and minor cuts.

(Local anesthesia, NCI Dictionary)

One was a placebo, which had no effect, and the other contained capsaicin, the ingredient that makes chili peppers hot and causes inflammation, as seen with sunburns.

(Study identifies gene that makes gentle touch feel painful after injury, National Institutes of Health)

A drug used to treat allergies and relieve cough and itching caused by insect bites, sunburn, and poison oak or ivy.

(Diphenhydramine, NCI Dictionary)

A topical preparation containing fat-soluble vitamins A and D usually in a lanolin-petrolatum base, A and D Ointment promotes healing of minor burns, rashes, sunburn, skin irritations, and acne; and prevents diaper rash.

(A and D Ointment, NCI Thesaurus)

Three or four of the men round the fire were evidently underkeepers and verderers from the forest, sunburned and bearded, with the quick restless eye and lithe movements of the deer among which they lived.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yet while prize-courts procrastinated, or there was a chance of an appointment by showing their sunburned faces at the Admiralty, so long they would continue to pace with their quarter-deck strut down Whitehall, or to gather of an evening to discuss the events of the last war or the chances of the next at Fladong’s, in Oxford Street, which was reserved as entirely for the Navy as Slaughter’s was for the Army, or Ibbetson’s for the Church of England.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The brown sunburn of his face surprised him.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)