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snowshoe

American  
[snoh-shoo] / ˈsnoʊˌʃu /

noun

  • snowshoes
    plural
  1. 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.

  2. Indian yellow.


verb (used without object)

  • snowshoes,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • snowshoed,
    past participle,  past
  • snowshoeing
    present participle
  1. to walk or travel on snowshoes.

snowshoe British  
/ ˈsnəʊˌʃuː /

noun

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

"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

verb

  1. (intr) to walk or go using snowshoes

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

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Etymology

Origin of snowshoe

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

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.

See Examples For:

Malthusian models and predator-prey equations, for example, have been used to examine the spread of Australian rabbits and the shifting populations of Canadian lynxes and snowshoe hares.

From Science Daily Sep. 7, 2026

Wada said it had cancelled all its snowmobile and snowshoe tours until further notice and it would conduct a review of its operations and safety procedures.

From BBC Mar. 3, 2026

Guests at the lodge can organize snowshoe and cross-country ski excursions through the front desk, which will tailor your trip to your experience level—even serious backcountry skiers will find an itinerary to their liking.

From The Wall Street Journal Jan. 23, 2026

Recently, they even found a snowshoe for a horse.

From NewsForKids.net Feb. 19, 2024

A snowshoe rabbit trail ran along the lake and she set off to find the resting place of the one who had made it.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

Trudging in snowshoes alongside Stevens is Darryl Lucien, an attorney for the 40 Acre group who has acted as a liaison between the nonprofit and officials in local and state government.

From Los Angeles Times May 19, 2024

Ojibwe hunters wore snowshoes to chase down elk that became exhausted by sinking into deep drifts.

From Science Magazine May 12, 2024

Mecus made a trench with her snowshoes, walking 100 yards ahead at a time and back again to tamp down the path.

From Seattle Times Apr. 12, 2024

In the winter, they grow comb-like extensions from their toes that act like snowshoes, and spend cold nights burrowed in snowbanks.

From New York Times Dec. 15, 2023

Sticking her toes in her snowshoes, she took a bearing on the constant star.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

The family sledded and snowshoed in the backyard, which fronts a national forest.

From Washington Post Jan. 13, 2022

To make ends meet, as he skied and snowshoed across the 13,185-foot Mosquito Pass, Dyer moonlighted — carrying the mail.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 30, 2020

In January 2015, for example, the field biologists Stephanie Eyes and Toren Johnson snowshoed out to retrieve the memory card from a motion-sensor camera in an obscure corner of Yosemite.

From New York Times Mar. 11, 2016

A veteran of backcountry research, McLaughlin has snowshoed the North Cascades looking for wolverines and other carnivores, and counted bird scat in the Elwha.

From Seattle Times Aug. 5, 2014

When we reached God's Lake, for a while we snowshoed down the centre, until at the parting of our ways we said good-bye, for the Indians were heading directly for Fort Consolation.

From The Drama of the Forests Romance and Adventure by Arthur Henry Howard Heming

In warmer weather, you can rent kayaks, wave runners and paddleboards or take a seasonal cruise aboard the Lake Lawn Queen; winter brings cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, ice fishing and sledding.

From Salon Sep. 8, 2026

“Exquisite and tranquil lands perfect for hiking, horseback riding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and more,” the listing said.

From MarketWatch Mar. 24, 2026

Today, they live near a nature reserve, where lately they have been snowshoeing.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 16, 2026

Two men were caught in the avalanche while snowshoeing on Wednesday, trapping one beneath the snow while the other escaped unharmed and was able to raise the alarm from a nearby mountain refuge.

From Barron's Jan. 1, 2026

He looked like he was ready to go snowshoeing, and I have to admit I wished I had more layers on too.

From "Winger" by Andrew Smith

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