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• snow
  snow

  noun

  precipitation in the form of ice crystals, mainly of intricately branched, hexagonal form and often agglomerated into snowflakes, formed directly from the freezing of the water vapor in the air.
• Snow
  Snow

  noun

  Sir Charles Percy C. P. Snow, 1905–80, English novelist and scientist.

snow

¹ American  

[snoh] / snoʊ /

noun

• snow
  plural

1. Meteorology. precipitation in the form of ice crystals, mainly of intricately branched, hexagonal form and often agglomerated into snowflakes, formed directly from the freezing of the water vapor in the air.

2. these flakes as forming a layer on the ground or other surface.

3. the fall of these flakes or a storm during which these flakes fall.

4. something resembling a layer of these flakes in whiteness, softness, or the like.

   the snow of fresh linen.

5. Literary.

   1. white blossoms.

   2. the white color of snow.

6. Slang. cocaine or heroin.

7. Informal. Usually snows snow tires.

   Most people up here keep their snows on through the end of April.

8. white spots or bands on a television screen caused by a weak signal.

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verb (used without object)

• snows,
  present (3rd person singular)
• snowed,
  past participle,  past
• snowing
  present participle

1. to send down snow; fall as snow.

2. to descend like snow.

verb (used with object)

• snows,
  present (3rd person singular)
• snowed,
  past participle,  past
• snowing
  present participle

1. to let fall as or like snow.

2. Slang.

   1. to make an overwhelming impression on.

      The view really snowed them.

   2. to persuade or deceive.

      She was snowed into believing everything.

verb phrase

1. snow under

   1. to cover with or bury in snow.

   2. to overwhelm with a larger amount of something than can be conveniently dealt with.

   3. to defeat overwhelmingly.

Snow ² American  

[snoh] / snoʊ /

noun

1. Sir Charles Percy C. P. Snow, 1905–80, English novelist and scientist.

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Snow ¹ British  

/ snəʊ /

noun

1. C ( harles ) P ( ercy ), Baron. 1905–80, British novelist and physicist. His novels include the series Strangers and Brothers (1949–70)

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snow ² British  

/ snəʊ /

noun

1. precipitation from clouds in the form of flakes of ice crystals formed in the upper atmosphere

2. a layer of snowflakes on the ground

3. a fall of such precipitation

4. anything resembling snow in whiteness, softness, etc

5. the random pattern of white spots on a television or radar screen, produced by noise in the receiver and occurring when the signal is weak or absent

6. slang cocaine

7. See carbon dioxide snow

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verb

1. (intr; with it as subject) to be the case that snow is falling

2. (tr; usually passive, foll by over, under, in, or up) to cover or confine with a heavy fall of snow

3. to fall or cause to fall as or like snow

4. slang (tr) to deceive or overwhelm with elaborate often insincere talk See snow job

5. to be overwhelmed, esp with paperwork

snow Scientific  

/ snō /

1. Precipitation that falls to earth in the form of ice crystals that have complex branched hexagonal patterns. Snow usually falls from stratus and stratocumulus clouds, but it can also fall from cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds.

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snow Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing snow

• pure as the driven snow

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• snowless
  adjective
• snowlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• snow
  plural

Participles

• snowing
  present
• snowed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• snow
  simple
• snows
  simple
• have snowed
  perfect
• has snowed
  perfect
• am snowing
  progressive
• are snowing
  progressive
• is snowing
  progressive
• have been snowing
  perfect progressive
• has been snowing
  perfect progressive

Past

• snowed
  simple
• had snowed
  perfect
• was snowing
  progressive
• were snowing
  progressive
• had been snowing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will snow
  simple
• will have snowed
  perfect
• will be snowing
  progressive
• will have been snowing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of snow¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun snou(e), Old English snāw; cognate with Dutch sneeuw, German Schnee, Old Norse snǣr, Gothic snaiws, Latin nix (genitive nivis ), Greek níps (accusative nípha ), Old Church Slavonic sněgŭ; verb derivative of the noun

Origin of Snow²

First recorded in 1665–75

Explanation

The fluffy white precipitation that falls from the sky in the winter is snow. Many winter sports, like skiing and sledding, require snow. Scientifically, snow is water vapor that freezes and forms ice crystals. You probably think of snow as the cold white stuff that can be formed into balls and thrown. Snow is a verb, too: "I love to watch it snow." Informally, to snow is also to hide your motives in order to trick someone: "She planned to snow her sister into thinking the cookies were all gone."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

snow Snow snows snowed snowing

In parts of the U.S. where snow is common, a mudroom is a must, Perry said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

When she woke up that Friday morning, ash was falling like snow, and pieces of burning wood were falling from the sky.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Matthew Myerscough said he was left with post-traumatic stress disorder after being unconscious for 20 minutes buried beneath a metre of snow after a slide on Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, in 2014.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Same with precut or packaged lettuce, fresh cilantro, fresh basil, raspberries, snow peas and green onions.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

That was what made Marlene suddenly whirl ’round to face him, sending Karli sprawling into the snow.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

They are the people supporting Disneyland’s parades, shows and character operations, including some who perform as iconic characters such as Mickey Mouse, Snow White and Cinderella.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Although he didn’t play high school football, Devey played two seasons at Snow College in Utah before transferring to the University of Memphis, the Deseret News reported.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

It was signed by Morgan DeWitt Snow, deputy director of presidential personnel in the Executive Office of the President.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

Her appearance kick started a showbiz career which also saw her take part in Celebrity Big Brother and star in panto as the Evil Queen in Snow White.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Snow trailed down through the hole in the roof and collected in a small mound on the floor.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

In the spring of 2023, as epic winter snows melted, horse carcasses emerged along the shores of South Tufa and nearby Navy Beach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

He is a solitary, trudging in his galoshes through the snows of West Hartford, Conn., on his way to work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

More than 160 million Americans are expected to face an unusually brutal winter storm from Friday, with heavy snows and freezing rains forecast.

From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2026

An unusually brutal winter storm is set to pummel more than 160 million Americans from Friday, as a stretched "polar vortex" sends a devastating blast of Arctic air, bringing heavy snows and freezing rains.

From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026

Whilst others struggled through the snows atop weary horses, she rode upon a bed of furs inside a wayn, with a stiff canvas roof to keep the snow off, comfortable in her chains.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

“We were snowed in and iced in for three days at our house,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026

"It snowed heavily the day before and over Christmas Day and Boxing Day - metres of snow fell."

From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2025

Although it snowed in Cleveland and Chicago this week and New Yorkers bundled up, gas traders don’t expect enough sustained cold weather to eat into supplies until next month.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025

It’s a similar weather pattern to the one seen in January 2022, when it hardly snowed in the Sierra Nevada.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2025

All the night and day and night on my thangen-sleep it must have snowed, no blizzard, but the first great snowfall of winter.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Lime also faces a seasonal risk: Put simply, scooters and bikes are a lot less popular when its snowing or raining, and more in demand when it’s warm and dry outside.

From MarketWatch ● May 8, 2026

“It was snowing, really bad weather,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026

"We didn't think it would stay as long as it did or keep snowing as long as it did."

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026

They hardly slept because it was snowing too hard and his group had to clear the snow every 10 minutes.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2025

There was a pause, while I heard Jesse yell to Eric, “Hey, man, look outside. It’s really snowing out there.”

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

Related Words

• blizzard
• snowstorm