winter
Americannoun
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winters
plural
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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).
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the months of December, January, and February in the U.S., and of November, December, and January in Great Britain.
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cold weather.
a touch of winter in northern Florida.
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the colder half of the year (opposed to summer).
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a whole year as represented by this season.
a man of sixty winters.
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a period like winter, as the last or final period of life; a period of decline, decay, inertia, dreariness, or adversity.
adjective
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of, relating to, or characteristic of winter.
a winter sunset.
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(of fruit and vegetables) of a kind that may be kept for use during the winter.
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planted in the autumn to be harvested in the spring or early summer.
winter rye.
verb (used without object)
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winters,
present (3rd person singular)
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wintered,
past participle, past
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wintering
present participle
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to spend or pass the winter.
to winter in Italy.
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to keep, feed, or manage during the winter, as plants or cattle.
plants wintering indoors.
noun
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(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
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( as modifier )
winter pasture
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the period of cold weather associated with the winter
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a time of decline, decay, etc
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poetic a year represented by this season
a man of 72 winters
verb
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(intr) to spend the winter in a specified place
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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
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wintersimple
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winterssimple
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have winteredperfect
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has winteredperfect
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am winteringprogressive
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are winteringprogressive
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is winteringprogressive
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have been winteringperfect progressive
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has been winteringperfect progressive
Past
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winteredsimple
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had winteredperfect
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was winteringprogressive
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were winteringprogressive
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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:
Even more striking is a prediction from the respected consultancy Cornwall Insight of a further 9% increase at the peak of winter in January.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
By winter, I had about six of these packs stacked flat in the freezer like little files, assembled for less than $20 total.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
A rare convergence of a powerful El Niño, super king tides and sea level rise spurred by climate change could menace California with record coastal flooding this winter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
“The harder the winter becomes, the greater the pressure on these carriers to reduce capacity, close routes or accept further financial strain,” Dwyer says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
With fruits and vegetables preserved in Mason jars and extra hay for Belle, we can survive winter.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The winters were simply too cold for our taste.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Skies are frequently overcast, and winters are cold, gray and gloomy.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Long winters, heavy snowfall and decades of conflict have further slowed cricket's development.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Warmer winters and shifts in land use have brought the bugs into new territory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Grandpa said he was too old for Idaho winters; the cold put an ache in his bones.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
A particularly steep downturn began in the winter of 2018, when about 30,000 monarch butterflies wintered in California, according to Emma Pelton, a monarch conservation biologist with the Xerces Society.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
He consulted her remotely when he wintered in Florida; he has also seen his cardiologist and his sleep specialist through telehealth.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 11, 2021
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
Years before the project began, migrating ospreys had been spotted in Poole Harbour, en route from Scotland to their wintering grounds in north Africa.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
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
"The two species do overlap on their high elevation wintering grounds. It's mind-boggling that until now nobody figured out the Giant Hummingbird mystery, yet these two species have been separate for millions of years. "
From Science Daily ● May 13, 2024
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.
