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Synonyms

snowdrift

American  
[snoh-drift] / ˈsnoʊˌdrɪft /

noun

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

  2. snow driven before the wind.

snowdrift British  
/ ˈsnəʊˌdrɪft /

noun

  1. 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

Etymology

Origin of snowdrift

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Hours later, Syta got a frantic call from her mother after she’d been trapped in a snowdrift for several hours.

From Washington Post • Dec. 27, 2022

Use safeguards and properly ventilate when using heat from a fireplace, space heater or wood stove and make sure gas furnaces are not blocked by a snowdrift.

From Fox News • Oct. 26, 2021

The brittle, dry cookies absorb the moisture of the cream, softening into cake, while the whipped cream stiffens up into a plush snowdrift of frosting that’s just barely firm enough to slice.

From New York Times • Aug. 27, 2021

Unable to make a dent in the rocky, frozen ground, Bjorge dug his foxhole in a snowdrift.

From Washington Times • Feb. 29, 2020

I found him resting in a snowdrift, looking at the cardinal pair that lived near the stream.

From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.