Meaning of sun dog | Babel Free

Definitions

A bright spot in the sky, usually one of two on a parhelic circle on both sides of the sun (or occasionally above and below it), caused by the refraction of the sun's image through ice crystals.

Equivalents

Examples

“December […] the 28th [1714], the Sun being an Hour high, appeared a Sun-Dog or Parhelion, the Sky full of flying Clouds.”

“Sun-dogs, called Mock Suns, becauſe they reſemble the ſun, are tvvo ſpots that frequently appear⟳ in a cloud vvhen the ſun ſhines through it, and vvhen he is about 15 to 20 degrees above the horizon. […] One is ſituated on the north, and the other on the ſouth ſide of the ſun. The refraction and reflection of the rays of light⟳ are the cauſe of theſe phænomena.”

“Two sundogs dread famine bring⟳ / A bloody war, and new-crown'd king.”

“The good fog heard—like⟳ a splitten sail⟳, to the left and right she tore, / And they saw⟳ the sun-dogs in the haze and the seal upon the shore.”

“Sometimes it is clear, and at midday the sun looks at us for a moment over the hills to the south. The northern lights flame in the sky, and the sun-dogs dance⟳, and the air is filled with frost-dust.”

“A sun dog on each side of the sun foretell⟳ a bad storm in the night.”

“Long understood also, is the fact that sundogs—colored spots of light⟳ to the right or left of the sun or moon—belong⟳ in the same class with halos.”

“Every rainbow and every sundog remind⟳ us, "Yes, you are human and you often fail⟳ to live⟳ up to God's standards. But God's covenant is eternal, and God loves you nonetheless and not the less."”

“Some videos seem to show⟳ sun dogs jumping around. […] No one is sure what causes these "jumping" sun dogs. Some scientists think⟳ the electric field from lightning in the cloud makes the ice crystals move⟳. When the crystals move⟳, the sun dog moves. But this is just a hypothesis. No one is sure what causes this phenomenon.”

CEFR level