snowstorm
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of snowstorm
Explanation
A snowstorm is a disturbed weather event that leads to a whole lot of white, frozen precipitation. If there's a snowstorm in the forecast, you may want to reschedule your picnic! Among all the various kinds of storms — including windstorms, rainstorms, and hailstorms — only a snowstorm has the potential to bury your car under a fluffy pile of snow. If it gets windy enough, a snowstorm can become a blizzard, dumping so much blowing snow that you can't see through it. Snowstorm merges snow and storm, which comes from a root word that means "to whirl or turn."
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.
Snowstorm hits Midwest: The winter that took its time getting to the Midwest was finally expected to arrive on the first day of the new year.
From Washington Post • Jan. 1, 2022
Snowstorm, financial crash, nuclear war – would you be ready?
From The Guardian • Jan. 28, 2018
Consider the names of shorebirds, which Michael McCarthy deploys to voluptuous effect in “The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy.”
From New York Times • Sep. 28, 2016
The NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers announced a special Snowstorm Savings on tickets to the team’s next two home games, against the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens.
From Washington Times • Jan. 22, 2016
She named them how they reminded her—‘Africa’ and ‘A Big Fight’ and ‘The Snowstorm.’
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
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.
