summer
1 Americannoun
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the season between spring and autumn, in the Northern Hemisphere from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox, and in the Southern Hemisphere from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox.
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the period comprising the months of June, July, and August in the United States, and from the middle of May to the middle of August in Great Britain.
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a period of hot, usually sunny weather.
We had no real summer last year.
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the hotter half of the year (opposed to winter).
They spend the summers in New Hampshire and the winters in Florida.
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the period of finest development, perfection, or beauty previous to any decline.
the summer of life.
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a whole year as represented by this season.
a girl of fifteen summers.
adjective
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of, relating to, or characteristic of summer.
Iced tea is a summer drink.
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appropriate for or done during the summer.
summer clothes;
summer sports.
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having the weather or warmth of summer.
summer days in late October.
verb (used without object)
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summers,
present (3rd person singular)
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summered,
past participle, past
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summering
present participle
verb (used with object)
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summers,
present (3rd person singular)
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summered,
past participle, past
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summering
present participle
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to keep, feed, or manage during the summer.
Sheep are summered in high pastures.
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to make summerlike.
noun
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a principal beam or girder, as one running between girts to support joists.
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a stone laid upon a pier, column, or wall, from which one or more arches spring: usually molded or otherwise treated like the arch or arches springing from it.
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a beam or lintel.
noun
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(sometimes capital)
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the warmest season of the year, between spring and autumn, astronomically from the June solstice to the September equinox in the N hemisphere and at the opposite time of year in the S hemisphere
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( as modifier )
summer flowers
a summer dress
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the period of hot weather associated with the summer
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a time of blossoming, greatest happiness, etc
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poetic a year represented by this season
a child of nine summers
verb
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(intr) to spend the summer (at a place)
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(tr) to keep or feed (farm animals) during the summer
they summered their cattle on the mountain slopes
noun
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Also called: summer tree. a large horizontal beam or girder, esp one that supports floor joists
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another name for lintel
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a stone on the top of a column, pier, or wall that supports an arch or lintel
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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summersimple
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summerssimple
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have summeredperfect
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has summeredperfect
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am summeringprogressive
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are summeringprogressive
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is summeringprogressive
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have been summeringperfect progressive
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has been summeringperfect progressive
Past
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summeredsimple
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had summeredperfect
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was summeringprogressive
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were summeringprogressive
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had been summeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of summer1
First recorded before 900; Middle English somer, Old English sumor; cognate with Dutch zomer, German Sommer, Old Norse sumar “summer”; akin to Sanskrit sámā “season, half-year, year,” Old Irish sam-, Old Welsh ham, Welsh haf “summer”
Origin of summer2
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English somer, from Anglo-French; Old French somier “packhorse, beam,” from unattested Vulgar Latin saumārius, equivalent to Latin sagm(a) “packsaddle” (from Greek ságma ) + -ārius noun suffix; see -ary, -er 2
Explanation
Summer is the season after spring and before autumn. In the summer, the weather is warmer and many students get a break from school. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, summer lasts from June to September, and if you travel in December to Australia or somewhere else in the Southern Hemisphere, you'll get to experience summer all over again. When fancy people talk about what they do during the summer, they may use it as a verb: "Oh, we summer in Maine."
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.
See Examples For:
Following a record-breaking summer of extreme heat and prolonged dry weather, UK weather patterns are set to change.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Herd explained that there is a desire to hold more water on this type of land, particularly in preparation for the dry summer months.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
The exercise, which runs for 11 days, is a regular summer fixture for South Korea's armed forces and their US allies, designed to steel them for defense against the nuclear-armed North.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Inflation peaked several months later, in the summer of 2022, after the Fed finally started raising rates in the spring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Even in the summer the chill never left the marble grave slabs on the floor.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
She finds that her summers in Fiji, the show’s filming location, always leave her with a fresh perspective.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
I deleted a whole mess of apps after we went to Glacier National Park a few summers ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
"Hopefully that will stay as it is," Ebel said, adding that hotter summers could mean TUI sees more bookings in the autumn and spring.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
While temperatures will continue to vary from year to year, scientists warn that summers will keep getting hotter on average as carbon emissions continue to heat up the planet.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
It was always great to come home for the summers so that we could reconnect with Daddy, and for our family to be together again.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Throughout her life, she summered in Maine near Franklin Roosevelt, yet she was among those drawn to “settlement houses.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026
Driscoll and her husband summered on the New Jersey shore, in Point Pleasant, until he retired in 1930.
From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2023
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is particularly beloved in Castel Gandolfo, where he joined a centuries-long list of pontiffs who summered at the papal villa overlooking Lake Alban in the hills south of Rome.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 3, 2023
For generations before then, of course, Native Americans knew it by other names and summered at its cooler altitudes.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2022
The partners at the top firms graduated from the same Ivy League schools, attended the same churches, and summered in the same oceanside towns on Long Island.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
Later that decade, Avery befriended Rothko and then Gottlieb, and by 1932 all three were summering in Gloucester, spending their mornings sketching or painting the harbor, the wharfs, the sea, the beach and the bathers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
Trump typically lives at Mar-a-Lago from October to May before summering in New Jersey.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2023
He’s boastfully summering in Italy and reveling in his luxurious wedding on All-In, the podcast that he co-hosts.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2023
I've been summering there for 20 years, probably.
From Salon ● May 3, 2023
Apparently, for fun, kids like the ones at Chumley enjoy trapeze arts, yacht sailing, Formula One go-kart racing, summering in the winter, horseback riding, and fashion accessorizing.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
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.
