Dictionary

moonburn en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

From moon + burn, by analogy with sunburn.

Meanings

1. (countable, humorous, uncountable) A hypothetical burn on the skin caused by excess exposure to moonlight.
   • "Last night, the moon was so bright I could have gotten a moonburn," he says. 1996 January 28, Jeff Klinkenberg, “An Uneasy Balance”, in St. Petersburg Times:
   • Sheldon Cooper: I should have brought an umbrella. Leonard Hofstadter: What for? It's not gonna rain. Sheldon Cooper: I know that. But with skin as fair as mine, moonburn is a real possibility. 2010 May 24, Lee Aronsohn, Steven Molaro & Steve Holland, "The Lunar Excitation", episode 3-23 of The Big Bang Theory, 00:00
   • Researchers say the light of the full moon causes the Earth to heat up, ever so slightly. "Moonburn is not a problem," climate expert Robert C. Balling said. 1995 March 10, “Moonlight Causes Slight Warming on Earth, Study Finds”, in Los Angeles Times:
   • Her husband, Walker, 38, laughs and says Teresa might start carrying one at night to protect against "moonburn." 2006 August 1, Linton Weeks, “Washington Coverup”, in The Washington Post:
   • Colon A ("By day the sun will not strike you") makes sense, given the strong Mediterranean sun. But to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever suffered moonburn. 2005, Marc Zvi Brettler, How to Read the Bible, Jewish Publication Society, →ISBN, page 165:

Forms

Relateds

rainburn