[See SHADE sb. 11. OE. had sunsceadu, glossing ‘flammeolum’ = bridal-veil (cf. SHADOW sb. 13 b).]
1. An awning over the outside of a window, to keep the sunlight off. ? Obs.
1851. Catal. Great Exhib., xxvi. 135. Models of the patent outside sun-shade.
1861. W. H. Russell, in Times, 12 July, 12/1. Near the banks are houses of wood, with porticoes, pillars, verandahs, and sun-shades, generally painted white and green.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech.
2. A parasol; now usually applied to the larger kinds.
1852. Bailey, Festus (ed. 5), 506. Pavonian canopy of azure held, In manner of a sunshade.
1860. All Year Round, No. 72. 512. The thousandth, or three thousandth anniversary of the umbrella in India or China, that would be the anniversary of it as a sun-shade.
1895. R. W. Chambers, King in Yellow, Repairer Reput., ii. (1909), 27. Constance tipped her sunshade to shield her eyes.
3. A hood fixed on the front of a bonnet to keep the sun from the face; also, a broad-brimmed hat.
1872. Jean Ingelow, Off the Skelligs, viii. I … asked her … to buy me … a sunshade, commonly called an ugly.
4. A device used with a telescope or other observing instrument to diminish the intensity of sunlight, as a darkened glass screen, or a tube projecting beyond the object-glass.
1894. F. M. Gibson, Amateur Telescopist’s Handbk., 55. Let the student be earnestly admonished to take the best precautions to shield his eyes when engaged in solar observation. The plan commonly adopted is to use the sunshades which are usually furnished with eye pieces, the colors of which are either neutral-tint, blue, or red.
