sleet

American  

[sleet] / slit /

noun

1. precipitation in the form of ice pellets created by the freezing of rain as it falls (distinguished from hail).

2. glaze.

3. Chiefly British. a mixture of rain and snow.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to send down sleet.

2. to fall as or like sleet.

sleet British  

/ sliːt /

noun

1. partly melted falling snow or hail or (esp US) partly frozen rain

2. the thin coat of ice that forms when sleet or rain freezes on cold surfaces

---

verb

1. (intr) to fall as sleet

sleet Scientific  

/ slēt /

1. Precipitation that falls to earth in the form of frozen or partially frozen raindrops, often when the temperature is near the freezing point. Sleet usually leaves the cloud in the form of snow that melts as it passes through warm layers of air during its descent. The raindrops and partially melted snowflakes then freeze in the colder layers nearer the earth before striking the ground as pellets of ice, which usually bounce. By contrast, hail forms by the accumulation of layers of ice on the hailstone as it moves up and down in the cloud, and hailstones can become much larger than sleet pellets. The word sleet is also used informally to describe a mixture of snow, sleet, and rain.

---

Other Word Forms

• sleety
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of sleet

First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the noun) Middle English slete; akin to Low German slote, German Schlossen “hail”; (for the verb) Middle English sleten, derivative of the noun

Explanation

Frozen rain, or melty snow, is called sleet. Walking in the snow can be lovely, but walking in sleet is just cold and unpleasant. Sleet is a type of precipitation, and it's also a verb: "Is it starting to sleet out there? Let's stay in and watch TV tonight." In the U.S., sleet is the name for small ice pellets—if you've ever heard the weather person talk about a "wintry mix," it usually includes sleet along with snow and freezing rain. The word dates from the very early 14th century, from a Germanic root.

Example Sentences

Sleet are small ice particles that form from the freezing of liquid water drops, such as raindrops.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2023

Sleet is forecast on Tuesday for much of the Dallas metro area, leading to ice-packed roads and treacherous driving conditions, the National Weather Service said.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 31, 2023

Sleet or snow mixed with sleet obviously exacerbates icy conditions of walkways and roads, and poses significant hazards.

From Washington Post • Nov. 29, 2021

In December 1946, Hall married Lilly May Sleet, a Perryville native who had attended high school in Danville.

From Washington Times • Sep. 27, 2015

Mrs. Sleet sat down and said, “Scott and Kim, would you say the grace, please?”

From "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Related Words

• deluge
• drizzle
• flood
• hail
• mist
• monsoon
• precipitation
• rainfall
• rainstorm
• shower
• showers
• stream
• torrent