graupel
Americannoun
noun
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A small, white ice particle that falls as precipitation and breaks apart easily when it lands on a surface.
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Also called snow pellet soft hail
Etymology
Origin of graupel
1885–90; < German; diminutive of Graupe hulled grain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“And multiple showers will just follow to rain. We’ll only be concerned about maybe a few snowflakes and graupel, smaller than hail, during the nighttime overnight hours.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 2, 2024
Local heavy downpours could last up to 15 minutes and include hail and graupel.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2023
But in Los Angeles, meteorologists reported a rare sight, when snow, or graupel — the soft, wet precipitation that is not quite as hard as hail — descended on the Hollywood sign.
From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2023
In Sacramento, the state capital, the weather service said it had received reports of something that might be either hail or graupel — soft, wet snowflakes encased in supercooled water droplets.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2023
As these icy particles bump into one another, they transfer electrical charges: the larger graupel tend to become negatively charged, whereas the smaller ice crystals end up with a positive charge.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 2, 2022
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
