winter
Americannoun
-
winters
plural
-
the cold season between autumn and spring in northern latitudes (in the Northern Hemisphere from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox; in the Southern Hemisphere from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox).
-
the months of December, January, and February in the U.S., and of November, December, and January in Great Britain.
-
cold weather.
a touch of winter in northern Florida.
-
the colder half of the year (opposed to summer).
-
a whole year as represented by this season.
a man of sixty winters.
-
a period like winter, as the last or final period of life; a period of decline, decay, inertia, dreariness, or adversity.
adjective
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of winter.
a winter sunset.
-
(of fruit and vegetables) of a kind that may be kept for use during the winter.
-
planted in the autumn to be harvested in the spring or early summer.
winter rye.
verb (used without object)
-
winters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wintered,
past participle, past
-
wintering
present participle
-
to spend or pass the winter.
to winter in Italy.
-
to keep, feed, or manage during the winter, as plants or cattle.
plants wintering indoors.
noun
-
-
(sometimes capital) the coldest season of the year, between autumn and spring, astronomically from the December solstice to the March equinox in the N hemisphere and at the opposite time of year in the S hemisphere
-
( as modifier )
winter pasture
-
-
the period of cold weather associated with the winter
-
a time of decline, decay, etc
-
poetic a year represented by this season
a man of 72 winters
verb
-
(intr) to spend the winter in a specified place
-
to keep or feed (farm animals, etc) during the winter or (of farm animals) to be kept or fed during the winter
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wintersimple
-
winterssimple
-
have winteredperfect
-
has winteredperfect
-
am winteringprogressive
-
are winteringprogressive
-
is winteringprogressive
-
have been winteringperfect progressive
-
has been winteringperfect progressive
Past
-
winteredsimple
-
had winteredperfect
-
was winteringprogressive
-
were winteringprogressive
-
had been winteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of winter
before 900; (noun) Middle English, Old English; cognate with German Winter, Old Norse vetr, Gothic wintrus; (v.) Middle English, derivative of the noun; akin to wet, water
Explanation
Winter is the coldest season of the year, often bringing snow, shorter days, longer nights, and cloudy gray skies. The word winter describes the season when temperatures drop, and the days grow shorter. It’s a time when nature slows down — trees lose their leaves, animals hibernate, and people bundle up in warm clothes. In some places, winter means snow-covered landscapes, snowball fights, and cozy nights spent by a warm fire, while in others, it might simply mean cooler weather than usual.
Vocabulary lists containing winter
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:
“I won’t say 100% sure we’re going to see this this winter, but this is a type of thing we may see a lot more of this winter,” Warrick said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
Last winter, food began to run low as fewer volunteers braved the road to deliver supplies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
The Environment Agency has said that while flooding is not guaranteed, the odds of repeated storms, prolonged rain and saturated catchments are higher than average this winter.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
That could mean above-average temperatures in most of America’s northern states, according to its winter forecast.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026
It was one of those radiant winter days when the air seemed to shimmer with light.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
My husband wants to spend about $1.2 million on a second home somewhere warm, where we could spend the winters and have the kids and our friends come stay.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Though low temperatures will plunge them into dormancy, they produce a type of antifreeze that lets them survive harsh winters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
You may already have hung thicker curtains and blocked the draughts over the last couple of winters, but do not forget to switch off radiators in rooms you are not using and wrap up.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
That pain point hinges somewhat on weather, with snowy winters boosting customer traffic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
I wasn’t sure where he’d moved here from, but it must have been somewhere without real winters.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
The couple has wintered in Arizona and returned to Washington in time for the opening of the Sounders season since 2009, the year the club joined MLS.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 24, 2023
Some retirees who wintered on the Gulf Coast are already planning their exits from the state.
From New York Times ● Oct. 10, 2022
In the classic migration pattern, flocks that wintered in the southern U.S. fly north in the spring, returning to the same spots in the high and sub-Arctic to breed and nest.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 16, 2020
The social pages followed his comings and goings, when he summered in Bar Harbor and wintered in Boca Raton.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 19, 2019
There rabbits and ptarmigan gathered to eat seeds out of the wind, and moose wintered on the twigs of the willows.
From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George
He said there were seasonal restrictions on areas with birthing seals and wintering birds.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
Safeguarding these wintering and stopover habitats is essential for ensuring that these birds continue to return north each spring.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2025
After spending the summer in the Hamptons, Icahn is wintering at his house on the Miami-area island known as Billionaire Bunker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2025
With fall underway in Antarctica, some bird species are starting to scatter to their wintering areas.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 18, 2024
They were moving to their wintering ground ahead of the deep freeze and the snow.
From "Julie of the Wolves" 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.
