sundial

CEFRB2

/ˈsʌnˌdaɪ.əl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A device that shows time using the position of the sun's shadow.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A sea snail of the genus Heliacus.

Examples

  • The birdbath includes a small gnomon that acts as a sundial with markings on the basin if it's aligned correctly with the sun.

  • There's a sundial in the garden.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A device measuring the time of day by the position of a shadow cast by a pole or plate (gnomon) upon an engraved series of marks.

More examples

In context

  • This is a sundial.

  • The shop carries more than a dozen sundials, mostly of bronze, plus an astrolabe ($650) of wrought iron.

  • It was Oxford now—the matriculation photograph, posed in the stony front quad at Corpus, the pelican on top of the sundial appearing to sit on the head of the lanky, begowned chemist at the centre of the back row.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Before clocks were invented, people used a blank to tell the time using the sun's position.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From sun + dial, a clarification of dial after it was used for other objects as well.