snowdrift

[snoh-drift]

See more synonyms for snowdrift on Thesaurus.com

noun

a mound or bank of snow driven together by the wind.
snow driven before the wind.

Origin of snowdrift

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at snow, drift

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

Related Words for snowdrift

sleet, slush, snowbank, snowdrift, snowflake, snowfall

Examples from the Web for snowdrift

Contemporary Examples of snowdrift

The crude, rusting poles are piled side-by-side in a snowdrift of steel on the floor of the Hirshhorn.
Chinese Hold Ai WeiWei’s Passport, Denies Access to Art Opening
Blake Gopnik
October 8, 2012

Historical Examples of snowdrift

You can clamber on the snowdrift, Peony, and reach them easily.
Boys and Girls Bookshelf (Vol 2 of 17)
Various
Kay did as he was told, but he felt as if he had fallen into a snowdrift.
Boys and Girls Bookshelf (Vol 2 of 17)
Various
No silly vision should drag him across a snowdrift on such a night.
The Secret of the Storm Country
Grace Miller White
There was a snowdrift six feet in depth before the farmhouse piazza.
When Life Was Young
C. A. Stephens
Three sunny days on the edge of the snowdrift will bring it forth.
Woodland Tales
Ernest Seton-Thompson

British Dictionary definitions for snowdrift

snowdrift

noun

a bank of deep snow driven together by the wind

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 snowdrift

c.1300, from snow (n.) + drift (n.).