SUNSCREEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sunscreen mean? 

• SUNSCREEN (noun)
  The noun SUNSCREEN has 1 sense:

1. a cream spread on the skin; contains a chemical (as PABA) to filter out ultraviolet light and so protect from sunburn

  Familiarity information: SUNSCREEN used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUNSCREEN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cream spread on the skin; contains a chemical (as PABA) to filter out ultraviolet light and so protect from sunburn

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

sun blocker; sunblock; sunscreen

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

cream; emollient; ointment (toiletry consisting of any of various substances in the form of a thick liquid that have a soothing and moisturizing effect when applied to the skin)

Meronyms (substance of "sunscreen"):

PABA; para aminobenzoic acid (a metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells; used to make dyes and drugs and sun blockers)

 Context examples 

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found a blistering hot planet outside our solar system where it "snows" sunscreen.

(Hubble Observes Exoplanet that Snows Sunscreen, NASA)

A benzophenone derivative used as a sunscreen agent.

(Oxybenzone, NCI Thesaurus)

These small bubbles of magnetic "sunscreen" can also deflect solar wind particles — but on a much smaller scale than Earth's magnetic field.

(NASA Mission Reveals Origins of Moon's 'Sunburn', NASA)

Because DNA defects contribute to skin cancer, aminobenzoic acid is no longer widely used in sunscreen formulations.

(Aminobenzoic acid, NCI Thesaurus)

Over the last two decades, nanotechnology has improved many everyday products, from microelectronics to sunscreens.

(Nanoparticles may have bigger impact on the environment than previously thought, National Science Foundation)

A sunscreen blocker.

(Avobenzone, NCI Thesaurus)

For the handful of exoplanets with stratospheres, the absorber is typically thought to be a molecule such as titanium oxide, a close relative of titanium dioxide, used on Earth as a paint pigment and sunscreen ingredient.

(WASP-18b Has Smothering Stratosphere Without Water, NASA)

Previous detections of clouds by Hubble at the boundary between day and night, where temperatures mercifully fall, have shown that titanium oxide (popular as a sunscreen) and aluminum oxide (the basis for ruby, the gemstone) could also be molecularly reborn on the ultrahot Jupiters' nightsides.

(Water Is Destroyed, Then Reborn in Ultrahot Jupiters, NASA/JPL)

The problem is the sunscreen (titanium oxide) precipitation only happens on the planet's permanent nighttime side.

(Hubble Observes Exoplanet that Snows Sunscreen, NASA)

Any possible visitors to the exoplanet, called Kepler-13Ab, would need to bottle up some of that sunscreen, because they won't find it on the sizzling hot, daytime side, which always faces its host star.

(Hubble Observes Exoplanet that Snows Sunscreen, NASA)