Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

snowplow

[snoh-plou]
noun
  1. an implement or machine for clearing away snow from highways, railroad tracks, etc.
  2. Skiing. a maneuver in which a skier pushes the heels of both skis outward so that they are far apart, as for turning, decreasing speed, or stopping.
Show More
verb (used with object)
  1. to clear of snow using a snowplow.
Show More
verb (used without object)
  1. to clear away snow with a snowplow.
  2. Skiing. to execute a snowplow.
Show More

Origin of snowplow

An Americanism dating back to 1785–95; snow + plow
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for snow-plow

Historical Examples of snow-plow

  • Hold his hands, Happy, sez Horace, as full o fight as a snow-plow.

    Friar Tuck

    Robert Alexander Wason

  • The snow-plow, even with extra teams, could hardly force its path through.

    The Blazed Trail

    Stewart Edward White

  • What are you doing, yourselves, with all the engines you want and a snow-plow, and all the men you want?

    The Cassowary

    Stanley Waterloo

  • Engineers and firemen on weed-destroying engines shall be paid at the same rates as in snow-plow service.

  • Ahead a billowy drift which 29 filled a hollow rose level with the wedge-shape framing on the snow-plow front.

Word Origin and History for snow-plow

n.

also snowplow, snow-plough, 1792, first mentioned in a New Hampshire context, from snow (n.) + plow (n.).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper