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ice pellets

American  

plural noun

Meteorology.
  1. precipitation consisting of particles of ice less than 0.2 inch (5 millimeters) in diameter, occurring either as frozen raindrops or as small hailstones.


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.

The embryos grow into soft ice pellets called graupel, says Sonia Lasher-Trapp, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

From Scientific American • Aug. 11, 2023

In Canada, ice pellets and freezing rain were forecast overnight after parts of southern Ontario were blanketed in snow during the evening rush hour on Wednesday.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2023

Instead, the Sounders’ game against Real Salt Lake was merely delayed two hours while freezing rain formed a sheet of ice pellets on the Rio Tinto Stadium field.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 5, 2022

Each shipper needs 50 pounds of dry ice pellets, so Pfizer is building its own dry ice factory.

From Washington Post • Nov. 17, 2020

His eyelids were freezing together, and soon they would be bound shut as ice pellets whipped his face from all directions.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el