whiteout

[ hwahyt-out, wahyt- ]

/ ˈʰwaɪtˌaʊt, ˈwaɪt- /

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See synonyms for whiteout on Thesaurus.com

noun

Meteorology.

a condition, found in polar regions, in which uniform illumination from snow on the ground and from a low cloud layer makes features of the landscape indistinguishable.
a condition of heavily falling or blowing snow in which visibility is very poor.

an act or instance of whiting out with a correction fluid.

a white correction fluid used for this: a bottle of whiteout.

a mistake, as in typing, that has been whited out with a correction fluid.

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Origin of whiteout

1940–45; (defs. 2-4) noun use of verb phrase white out;(def. 1) white + (black)out

Words nearby whiteout

white night, White Nile, whitening, white noise, white oak, whiteout, white pages, white paper, White Pass, white people problem, white pepper

How to use whiteout in a sentence

Quarter sized hail and complete whiteout in the debris-laden winds.
Tornado hit Columbia Thursday, while straight-line winds slammed Fredericksburg|Jeffrey Halverson, Jason Samenow|July 30, 2021|Washington Post
Snow Mode helps riders find trails and parking areas, highlights avalanche terrain and warnings, displays local weather conditions like snow data, and guides snowmobilers through whiteout conditions.
Want to Go Snowmobiling? Get OnX Offroad.|Wes Siler|February 18, 2021|Outside Online
Marketing-wise, it would be difficult to eclipse a whiteout primetime matchup in Happy Valley.
With A Win Over Ohio State, Indiana Would Be In The Big Ten Driver’s Seat. Wait, What?|Josh Planos|November 18, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Baecher came off the mountain a few days later, after she was turned around by whiteout conditions.
Meet the Woman Teaching the Psychology of Survival|Emily Sohn|November 9, 2020|Outside Online

Driving from the Denver airport to Wyoming, I encountered an almost-otherworldly whiteout of a blizzard.
Native American Basketball Team in Wyoming Have Hoop Dreams Of Their Own|Robert Silverman|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
After the Blizzard, 100 Million People Will Be Hit With Freezing Air From the North Pole|Eric Holthaus|January 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For, at Penn State, the whitewash has replaced the whiteout, and the “Greatest Show” is nearing its end.
Penn State Goes Too Far in Its Purge of All Things Paterno|John Hendrickson|August 29, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The Commissioner and the Chief Inspector were at one in concluding that the crash has occurred in a whiteout.
Judgments of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand on Proceedings to Review Aspects of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Mount Erebus Aircraft Disaster|Sir Owen Woodhouse, R. B. Cooke, Ivor L. M. Richardson, Duncan Wallace McMullin, and Sir Edward Somers
The term 'whiteout' has more than one meaning as being descriptive of weather conditions in snow-covered terrain.
Judgments of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand on Proceedings to Review Aspects of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Mount Erebus Aircraft Disaster|Sir Owen Woodhouse, R. B. Cooke, Ivor L. M. Richardson, Duncan Wallace McMullin, and Sir Edward Somers
Flying in a 'whiteout' of that description is no different from flying in thick cloud.
Judgments of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand on Proceedings to Review Aspects of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Mount Erebus Aircraft Disaster|Sir Owen Woodhouse, R. B. Cooke, Ivor L. M. Richardson, Duncan Wallace McMullin, and Sir Edward Somers

British Dictionary definitions for whiteout

white out

verb (adverb)

(intr) to lose or lack daylight visibility owing to snow or fog

(tr) to create or leave white spaces in (printed or other matter)

(tr) to delete (typewritten words or characters) with a white correcting fluid

noun whiteout

an atmospheric condition consisting of loss of visibility and sense of distance and direction due to a uniform whiteness of a heavy cloud cover and snow-covered ground, which reflects almost all the light it receives

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