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# sundial

«sundial» in Mova's school dictionary: **An old instrument that shows the time of day by the…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a sundial, sundials)

### meaning for a pupil

An old instrument that shows the time of day by the shadow that a pointer (the gnomon) casts on a flat dial marked with hours. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sundial/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In science and history lessons a sundial shows how the Sun seems to move across the sky; as the Earth turns, the shadow moves round the dial. It only works when the Sun shines. Pupils make their own with a stick and chalk marks.

### examples

- The sundial in the garden shows it is about three o'clock. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sundial/#x1)
- A sundial does not work at night or on cloudy days. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sundial/#x2)
- We made a sundial with a pencil and a paper plate. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sundial/#x3)
- The shadow on the sundial moves as the Earth turns. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sundial/#x4)
- Old churches often have sundials on their walls. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sundial/#x5)
- The shadow is shortest at noon, when the Sun is highest. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sundial/#x6)

### note

One word: sun + dial. The shadow moves «clockwise» in the northern hemisphere (that is where clockwise comes from) and the other way in the southern hemisphere. Sundial time can differ from clock time.

### In the corpora

- [A sundial tells the time from the position of a shadow.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/84-mirrors-shadows-colours/18/)
- [A sundial tells the time by the shadow of a stick called a gnomon, which moves round as the Earth turns.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/118-day-night-shadows-sundials/13/)
- [A sundial does not work on a cloudy day or at night, because there is no shadow.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/118-day-night-shadows-sundials/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «sundial» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sundial/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.