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.
these flakes as forming a layer on the ground or other surface.
the fall of these flakes or a storm during which these flakes fall.
something resembling a layer of these flakes in whiteness, softness, or the like.
the snow of fresh linen.
Literary.
white blossoms.
the white color of snow.
Slang. cocaine or heroin.
Informal. Usually snows snow tires.
Most people up here keep their snows on through the end of April.
white spots or bands on a television screen caused by a weak signal.
to send down snow; fall as snow.
to descend like snow.
to let fall as or like snow.
Slang.
to make an overwhelming impression on.
The view really snowed them.
to persuade or deceive.
She was snowed into believing everything.
precipitation from clouds in the form of flakes of ice crystals formed in the upper atmosphere
a layer of snowflakes on the ground
a fall of such precipitation
anything resembling snow in whiteness, softness, etc
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
slang cocaine
(intr; with it as subject) to be the case that snow is falling
(tr; usually passive, foll by over, under, in, or up) to cover or confine with a heavy fall of snow
to fall or cause to fall as or like snow
slang (tr) to deceive or overwhelm with elaborate often insincere talk See snow job
to be overwhelmed, esp with paperwork
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
First recorded in 1665–75
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."
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There is snow on the mountains, dense fog that blankets crops in the fall, giving life to wine-country grapes, fires in the dry season and the occasional earthquake.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
Shifting snow conditions across the Arctic have made wolverine tracks harder to detect and document.
From Science Daily • Jun. 1, 2026
“There’s never been a winter like this, where we had virtually no precipitation, very little snow, very little rain. We count on that snowpack from the mountains,” he said.
From Slate • Jun. 1, 2026
Rabbits dotted the mountainside like patches of snow.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 30, 2026
Very soon the snow was not so much fun anymore.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
