[Back-formation from SUNBURNING, SUNBURNT.]
1. trans. To ‘burn,’ scorch or discolor (usually the skin) by exposure to the sun; to affect with sunburn; to tan. Also fig.
1530. Palsgr., 725/1. I sonne burne, as ones face, or their handes do that the sonne shyneth moche apon, je hasle.
1611. Cotgr., Haler, to Sunne-burne or scorch in the Sunne.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 1. Hot dayes, which haue Sunburnt my lines, aswell as face.
1667. Dryden & Dk. Newcastle, Sir M. Mar-all, II. i. My aunt charged me not to pull off my glove for fear of sun-burning my hand.
1805. Emily Clark, Banks of Douro, III. 68. The scorching rays had sun-burnt his face.
1860. Ruskin, Mod. Paint., V. IX. iii. § 2. 218. The Venetians … sunburn all their hermits into splendid russet brown.
1909. Miss G. Guinness, Peru, v. 45. The dry season has sunburnt the hillsides.
2. intr. for pass. To be discolored or tanned by exposure to the sun; also of a plant (cf. prec. b).
1832. J. Wilson, in Trans. Hortic. Soc. (1835), I. 211. If the sun be bright, the leaves would sun-burn in a short time.
