sunscreen

Pluralsunscreens

Formssunscreens, sunscreening, sunscreened

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A skin preparation that absorbs, reflects, or scatters ultraviolet rays to help protect against their harmful effects.

   She reapplied sunscreen every two hours during the long hike.

   Dermatologists recommend wearing sunscreen even on cloudy days.

   Similarsunblock

   Note

   Two families share the name. Chemical sunscreens use ingredients such as avobenzone, oxybenzone and homosalate to absorb UV rays. Mineral sunscreens are made with zinc oxide and may be gentler on sensitized skin. The noun is uncountable when you put it on (apply sunscreen, reapply every two hours) and countable when you compare products (mineral sunscreens, both types of sunscreen). Sunblock and suntan lotion are its everyday synonyms.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To apply sunscreen to someone.

   Lifeguards remind parents to sunscreen their toddlers every couple of hours.

   She sunscreened both children thoroughly before the parade.

   Note

   A noun put straight to work as a verb, conjugated regularly: sunscreens, sunscreening, sunscreened. It takes a direct object, which can be the person or only the patch of skin being covered. In Nicole Williams's Tortured (2007) the narrator sunscreened his back. That object mirrors the phrase it shortens, apply the lotion itself to someone's back.

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