sun dog
noun
1
2
: a small nearly round halo on the parhelic circle most frequently just outside the halo of 22 degrees
Examples of sun dog in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
His soldiers learned much from the Inuit, including building igloos, deciphering the meaning of snowdrifts, ice fishing, hunting and butchering caribou — and observing the moon dog and sun dog.
—
Norimitsu Onishi Nasuna Stuart-Ulin, New York Times, 4 June 2023
By exposing for the sun dog, so that some of the color in those bright highlights would be retained, the foreground wound up dark and rather murky.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 10 Oct. 2014
Half a sun dog indicates that death is coming for someone.
—Porter Fox, CNN, 29 Dec. 2021
The colors occur when sunlight passes through the ice crystals, similar to how sun dogs or halos form.
—Kathryn Prociv, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2018
But this picture also holds another interesting effect: sun dogs.
—Mika McKinnon, Smithsonian, 5 Feb. 2018
When sun dogs are present due to high cirrus clouds, they can actually be used as a forecast tool.
—Kathryn Prociv, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2018
Similar to sun dogs, lunar and solar halos belong to the family of ice halos, which are optical phenomena formed by the refraction of sun on hexagonal ice crystals suspended high up in the atmosphere, most commonly in cirrus clouds.
—Kathryn Prociv, Washington Post, 13 Apr. 2018
Another arc of light swoops through the center of the image, crossing the sun and sun dogs.
—Mika McKinnon, Smithsonian, 5 Feb. 2018
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Norimitsu Onishi Nasuna Stuart-Ulin, New York Times, 4 June 2023
By exposing for the sun dog, so that some of the color in those bright highlights would be retained, the foreground wound up dark and rather murky.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 10 Oct. 2014
Half a sun dog indicates that death is coming for someone.
—Porter Fox, CNN, 29 Dec. 2021
The colors occur when sunlight passes through the ice crystals, similar to how sun dogs or halos form.
—Kathryn Prociv, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2018
But this picture also holds another interesting effect: sun dogs.
—Mika McKinnon, Smithsonian, 5 Feb. 2018
When sun dogs are present due to high cirrus clouds, they can actually be used as a forecast tool.
—Kathryn Prociv, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2018
Similar to sun dogs, lunar and solar halos belong to the family of ice halos, which are optical phenomena formed by the refraction of sun on hexagonal ice crystals suspended high up in the atmosphere, most commonly in cirrus clouds.
—Kathryn Prociv, Washington Post, 13 Apr. 2018
Another arc of light swoops through the center of the image, crossing the sun and sun dogs.
—Mika McKinnon, Smithsonian, 5 Feb. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Sun dog.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sun%20dog. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
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