snowshoe

[snoh-shoo]

noun

a contrivance that may be attached to the foot to enable the wearer to walk on deep snow without sinking, especially a light, racket-shaped frame across which is stretched a network of rawhide.
Indian yellow(def 1).

verb (used without object), snow·shoed, snow·shoe·ing.

to walk or travel on snowshoes.

Origin of snowshoe

An Americanism dating back to 1655–65; snow + shoe

Related formssnow·sho·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for snow-shoe

Historical Examples of snow-shoe

Nothing equals the moccasin on the trail, nothing is so good to snow-shoe in.
Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled
Hudson Stuck
Richard Darrell twisted his feet out of his snow-shoe straps.
Blazed Trail Stories
Stewart Edward White
"I'll be all right," and I went on lacing the snow-shoe thongs about my ankle.
Lords of the North
A. C. Laut
Generally, however, the shape is such that the snow-shoe will fit either foot.
The Young Voyageurs
Mayne Reid
The Hudson Bay snow-shoe is only two and a half feet in length.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 1
Hubert Howe Bancroft

British Dictionary definitions for snow-shoe

snowshoe

noun

a device to facilitate walking on snow, esp a racket-shaped frame with a network of thongs stretched across it

verb -shoes, -shoeing or -shoed

(intr) to walk or go using snowshoes

Derived Formssnowshoer, noun

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-shoe

also snowshoe, 1670s, from snow (n.) + shoe (n.). Related: Snowshoes.