snow

[snoh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR snow ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Meteorology. a precipitation in the form of ice crystals, mainly of intricately branched, hexagonal form and often agglomerated into snowflakes, formed directly from the freezing of the water vapor in the air.Compare ice crystals, snow grains, snow pellets.

these flakes as forming a layer on the ground or other surface.

the fall of these flakes or a storm during which these flakes fall.

something resembling a layer of these flakes in whiteness, softness, or the like: the snow of fresh linen.

Literary.

white blossoms.
the white color of snow.

Slang. cocaine or heroin.

white spots or bands on a television screen caused by a weak signal.Compare hash¹(def 5).

verb (used without object)

to send down snow; fall as snow.

to descend like snow.

verb (used with object)

to let fall as or like snow.

Slang.

to make an overwhelming impression on: The view really snowed them.
to persuade or deceive: She was snowed into believing everything.

Verb Phrases

snow under,

to cover with or bury in snow.
to overwhelm with a larger amount of something than can be conveniently dealt with.
to defeat overwhelmingly.

Origin of snow

before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English snāw; cognate with Dutch sneeuw, German Schnee, Old Norse snǣr, Gothic snaiws, Latin nix (genitive nivis), Greek níps (accusative nípha), OCS sněgŭ; (v.) Middle English snowen, derivative of the noun; replacing Middle English snewen, Old English snīwan; cognate with Old High German snīwan (German schneien), Middle Low German, Middle Dutch snīen

Related formssnow·less, adjectivesnow·like, adjective

Snow

[snoh]

noun

Sir Charles PercyC. P. Snow, 1905–80, English novelist and scientist.

Origin of Snow

First recorded in 1665–75

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for snow

blizzard, sleet, snowstorm, snowfall, slush, snowbank, snowdrift, snowflake, firn, graupel

Examples from the Web for snow

Contemporary Examples of snow

Not quite, but at one point the temperature registered 29 below zero, with 21 inches of snow.
Speed Read: The Juiciest Bits From the History of ‘Purple Rain’
Jennie Yabroff
January 1, 2015
But mostly they just walked, their faces somber, their hands shaking as the snow began to fall.
Justice League Vigil for Slain NYPD Officers Asks Whose Life Matters
Olivia Nuzzi
December 22, 2014
There was snow on the ground when I made my last trip to see Sheffield.
I Was Gang Raped at a UVA Frat 30 Years Ago, and No One Did Anything
Liz Seccuro
December 16, 2014
Snow fell lightly Wednesday as a League member standing in front of City Hall read the demands.
Eric Garner Protesters Have a Direct Line to City Hall
Jacob Siegel
December 11, 2014
In the meantime, just as the bill passed its first hurdle, snow flakes started to fall down on the Capitol.
Quirky Reindeer Farmer Keeps Government Open for Christmas
Ben Jacobs
December 11, 2014

Historical Examples of snow

Twelve hours afterward the snow, three feet deep on a level, has melted.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Above, below, the rose of snow, Twined with her blushing foe we spread.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
The wind was high, but the sun bright, and the snow thawing.
The Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and California
Brevet Col. J.C. Fremont
Old people have a remembrance of a foot of snow which lasted for a week.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 433, April 19, 1884
Various
A combination of crocuses and snow on the ground had given her an inspiration for a gown.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart

British Dictionary definitions for snow

snow

noun

precipitation from clouds in the form of flakes of ice crystals formed in the upper atmosphereRelated adjective: niveous

a layer of snowflakes on the ground

a fall of such precipitation

anything resembling snow in whiteness, softness, etc

the random pattern of white spots on a television or radar screen, produced by noise in the receiver and occurring when the signal is weak or absent

slang cocaine

See carbon dioxide snow

verb

(intr; with it as subject) to be the case that snow is falling

(tr; usually passive, foll by over, under, in, or up) to cover or confine with a heavy fall of snow

(often with it as subject) to fall or cause to fall as or like snow

(tr) US and Canadian slang to deceive or overwhelm with elaborate often insincere talkSee snow job

be snowed under to be overwhelmed, esp with paperwork

Derived Formssnowless, adjectivesnowlike, adjective

Word Origin for snow

Old English snāw; related to Old Norse snjōr, Gothic snaiws, Old High German snēo, Greek nipha

Snow

noun

C (harles) P (ercy), Baron. 1905–80, British novelist and physicist. His novels include the series Strangers and Brothers (1949–70)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for snow

Old English snaw "snow, that which falls as snow; a fall of snow; a snowstorm," from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German sneo, Old Frisian and Middle Low German sne, Middle Dutch snee, Dutch sneeuw, German Schnee, Old Norse snjor, Gothic snaiws "snow"), from PIE root *sniegwh- "snow; to snow" (cf. Greek nipha, Latin nix (genitive nivis), Old Irish snechta, Irish sneachd, Welsh nyf, Lithuanian sniegas, Old Prussian snaygis, Old Church Slavonic snegu, Russian snieg', Slovak sneh "snow"). The cognate in Sanskrit, snihyati, came to mean "he gets wet." As slang for "cocaine" it is attested from 1914.

c.1300, replacing Old English sniwan, which would have yielded modern snew (which existed as a parallel form until 17c. and, in Yorkshire, even later), from the root of snow (n.). Cf. Middle Dutch sneuuwen, Dutch sneeuwen, Old Norse snjova, Swedish snöga.

Also þikke as snow þat snew,
Or al so hail þat stormes blew.
[Robert Mannyng of Brunne, transl. Wace's "Chronicle," c.1330]

The figurative sense of "overwhelm; surround, cover, and imprison" (as deep snows can do to livestock) is 1880, American English, in phrase to snow (someone) under. Snow job "strong, persistent persuasion in a dubious cause" is World War II armed forces slang, probably from the same metaphoric image.

snow in Science

snow

[snō]

Precipitation that falls to earth in the form of ice crystals that have complex branched hexagonal patterns. Snow usually falls from stratus and stratocumulus clouds, but it can also fall from cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds.

Idioms and Phrases with snow

snow

In addition to the idioms beginning with snow

snow job
snow under

also see:

pure as the driven snow