winter

[ win-ter ]

noun

1. the cold season between autumn and spring in northern latitudes (in the Northern Hemisphere from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox; in the Southern Hemisphere from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox).
2. the months of December, January, and February in the U.S., and of November, December, and January in Great Britain.
3. cold weather:

   a touch of winter in northern Florida.

4. the colder half of the year ( summer ).
5. a whole year as represented by this season:

   a man of sixty winters.

6. a period like winter, as the last or final period of life; a period of decline, decay, inertia, dreariness, or adversity.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of winter:

   a winter sunset.

2. (of fruit and vegetables) of a kind that may be kept for use during the winter.
3. planted in the autumn to be harvested in the spring or early summer:

   winter rye.

verb (used without object)

1. to spend or pass the winter:

   to winter in Italy.

2. to keep, feed, or manage during the winter, as plants or cattle:

   plants wintering indoors.

winter

/ ˈwɪntə /

noun

1. 1. sometimes capital the coldest season of the year, between autumn and spring, astronomically from the December solstice to the March equinox in the N hemisphere and at the opposite time of year in the S hemisphere
   2. ( as modifier )

      winter pasture

2. the period of cold weather associated with the winter
3. a time of decline, decay, etc
4. poetic.
   a year represented by this season brumalhibernalhiemal

   a man of 72 winters

verb

1. intr to spend the winter in a specified place
2. to keep or feed (farm animals, etc) during the winter or (of farm animals) to be kept or fed during the winter

Derived Forms

• ˈwinterer, noun
• ˈwinterish, adjective
• ˈwinterless, adjective

Other Words From

• winter·er noun
• winter·ish adjective
• winter·ish·ly adverb
• winter·less adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of winter¹

before 900; (noun) Middle English, Old English; cognate with German Winter, Old Norse vetr, Gothic wintrus; (v.) Middle English, derivative of the noun; akin to wet, water

Word History and Origins

Origin of winter¹

Old English; related to Old Saxon, Old High German wintar, Old Norse vetr, Gothic wintrus

Example Sentences

In Stowe, Vermont, for instance, summer hiking and winter skiing drive most tourist traffic, but summer travel was dampened by the coronavirus’s first wave, and Vermont’s popular ski mountains may shut down this winter.

From Eater

New research shows that 2018’s winter ice was the lowest in 5,500 years — and that human-caused climate change is linked to this record.

From Science News

They’re teaching students not just about climate change, but also how to live through droughts or long winters.

From Ozy

Priscu, a regents professor of polar ecology at Montana State University, got his first taste of winter more than 40 years ago after entering a doctoral program at the University of California, Davis in microbial ecology.

From Quanta Magazine

The Arctic — that region that makes up the far North of our planet — has now emerged from its long winter night.

From Science News For Students

One line in “Winter Wonderland” has stopped countless people dead in their tracks.

From The Daily Beast

After all, the Russians were about to mount a winter offensive of their own.

From The Daily Beast

But Winter is dead, Clapton is tired of life on the road, and King unreliable in concert.

From The Daily Beast

Not long ago, a whole host of artists were plowing these fields—Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Johnny Winter.

From The Daily Beast

With the harsh Middle Eastern winter approaching fast, what people in Syria and Iraq need most, in fact, is humanitarian support.

From The Daily Beast

She is spending the summer near Deppe, and he hears her play the programme she is going to give in Berlin next winter, every day.

From Project Gutenberg

Each seems satisfied with the way his own branch is getting on: Winter is the quicker worker.

From Project Gutenberg

The winter of 1897-98 was spent by Mr. Kipling and his family, accompanied by his father, in South Africa.

From Project Gutenberg

One day she had heard a man say, "If there is a drought we shall have the devil to pay with our stock before winter is over."

From Project Gutenberg

He had the land in Tripp County that was broken into winter wheat, while that in the next county east was rented.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cold