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• snow
  snow

  noun

  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.
• Snow
  Snow

  noun

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

snow

¹ American  

[snoh] / snoʊ /

noun

• snow
  plural

1. Meteorology. 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.

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

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

4. something resembling a layer of these flakes in whiteness, softness, or the like.

   the snow of fresh linen.

5. Literary.

   1. white blossoms.

   2. the white color of snow.

6. Slang. cocaine or heroin.

7. Informal. Usually snows snow tires.

   Most people up here keep their snows on through the end of April.

8. white spots or bands on a television screen caused by a weak signal.

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verb (used without object)

• snows,
  present (3rd person singular)
• snowed,
  past participle,  past
• snowing
  present participle

1. to send down snow; fall as snow.

2. to descend like snow.

verb (used with object)

• snows,
  present (3rd person singular)
• snowed,
  past participle,  past
• snowing
  present participle

1. to let fall as or like snow.

2. Slang.

   1. to make an overwhelming impression on.

      The view really snowed them.

   2. to persuade or deceive.

      She was snowed into believing everything.

verb phrase

1. snow under

   1. to cover with or bury in snow.

   2. to overwhelm with a larger amount of something than can be conveniently dealt with.

   3. to defeat overwhelmingly.

Snow ² American  

[snoh] / snoʊ /

noun

1. Sir Charles Percy C. P. Snow, 1905–80, English novelist and scientist.

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Snow ¹ British  

/ snəʊ /

noun

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

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snow ² British  

/ snəʊ /

noun

1. precipitation from clouds in the form of flakes of ice crystals formed in the upper atmosphere

2. a layer of snowflakes on the ground

3. a fall of such precipitation

4. anything resembling snow in whiteness, softness, etc

5. 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

6. slang cocaine

7. See carbon dioxide snow

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verb

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

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

3. to fall or cause to fall as or like snow

4. slang (tr) to deceive or overwhelm with elaborate often insincere talk See snow job

5. to be overwhelmed, esp with paperwork

snow Scientific  

/ snō /

1. 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.

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snow Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing snow

• pure as the driven snow

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• snowless
  adjective
• snowlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• snow
  plural

Participles

• snowing
  present
• snowed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• snow
  simple
• snows
  simple
• have snowed
  perfect
• has snowed
  perfect
• am snowing
  progressive
• are snowing
  progressive
• is snowing
  progressive
• have been snowing
  perfect progressive
• has been snowing
  perfect progressive

Past

• snowed
  simple
• had snowed
  perfect
• was snowing
  progressive
• were snowing
  progressive
• had been snowing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will snow
  simple
• will have snowed
  perfect
• will be snowing
  progressive
• will have been snowing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of snow¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun snou(e), Old English snāw; cognate with Dutch sneeuw, German Schnee, Old Norse snǣr, Gothic snaiws, Latin nix (genitive nivis ), Greek níps (accusative nípha ), Old Church Slavonic sněgŭ; verb derivative of the noun

Origin of Snow²

First recorded in 1665–75

Explanation

The fluffy white precipitation that falls from the sky in the winter is snow. Many winter sports, like skiing and sledding, require snow. Scientifically, snow is water vapor that freezes and forms ice crystals. You probably think of snow as the cold white stuff that can be formed into balls and thrown. Snow is a verb, too: "I love to watch it snow." Informally, to snow is also to hide your motives in order to trick someone: "She planned to snow her sister into thinking the cookies were all gone."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

snow Snow snows snowed snowing

Friends are welcome to send mittens, ski caps and hot soup when the snow comes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

He took a photo of them on the slope, small silhouettes against the snow.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

With every step farther into “the pile,” what rescue workers came to call the smoldering mass of debris, a coating of white powder got thicker and deeper—like snow that wasn’t snow, my father recalls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

You live in a diesel snow globe, and somebody just shook it.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

Through the streaming snow, he saw Renn pushing forwards with all her strength; Wolf staggering sideways, his eyes slitted against the wind.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

“What was once a 1-in-500 or 1-in-1,000 chance, it was now a 1-in-100 or a 1-in-75 chance,” Snow said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

Left Lane is also an investor in the Pro Padel League, the Snow League—a professional winter-sports league founded by Shaun White—and League One Volleyball.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

Best known for playing Jon Snow for eight seasons in the award-winning series Game of Thrones, Harington also appears in the BBC and HBO financial drama Industry.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

Although he didn’t play high school football, Devey played two seasons at Snow College in Utah before transferring to the University of Memphis, the Deseret News reported.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

“Second,” Jack continued, ignoring her, “did you hear what she and the Huntsman were talking about? They mentioned the Wicked Queen and betrayal and Snow White...and the Mirror!”

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

They predicted the reservoirs will keep setting records every day until snows come and bring the next seasonal pulse of runoff.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

"If it rains, we're going. If it snows, we're going. The only thing that kills us is lightning," he said.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

“Because I go into the fields of Nebraska, the mountains of Colorado and the snows of Alaska, I have to be practical, usable, reachable,” she told the Los Angeles Times.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026

Or as in the Northeast today, when it snows it blizzards.

From Barron's ● Feb. 24, 2026

When the snows drifted forty and fifty feet high and the ice winds came howling out of the north, the tunnels were all that held Castle Black together.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

On Boxing Day, he said it snowed so much, his instruments were buried.

From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2025

Although it snowed in Cleveland and Chicago this week and New Yorkers bundled up, gas traders don’t expect enough sustained cold weather to eat into supplies until next month.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025

At some points during the storm, it even snowed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2025

The roads were all completely iced over, snowed over and closed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2024

But that was short of the mark, for twenty guests were invited and there were several meals at which it snowed food and rained drink, as hobbits say.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Lime also faces a seasonal risk: Put simply, scooters and bikes are a lot less popular when its snowing or raining, and more in demand when it’s warm and dry outside.

From MarketWatch ● May 8, 2026

“It was snowing, really bad weather,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026

They hardly slept because it was snowing too hard and his group had to clear the snow every 10 minutes.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2025

“Shortly after, the boat rolled over to starboard, and the passengers entered the water. The survivor recalled that it started snowing after the boat rolled over while the people were in the water.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2025

When I left to walk back to the bunkhouse, it was still snowing, but peacefully.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• blizzard
• snowstorm