snow Hear it!

snow Definition

snow (snō)

noun

  1. particles of water vapor which when frozen in the upper air fall to earth as soft, white, crystalline flakes
    1. a falling of snow
    2. snowy weather
  3. a mass or accumulation of fallen snow
  4. Old Poet. whiteness
  5. something like snow in whiteness, texture, etc.
  6. ☆ fluctuating spots appearing on a television screen as a result of a weak signal, shot effect, etc.
  7. ☆ Slang cocaine or heroin

Etymology: ME < OE snaw, akin to Ger schnee < IE base *sneigwh-, to snow, *snoigwhos, snow > OIr snechta, Russ snieg, L nix (gen. nivis)

intransitive verb

to fall as or like snow

Etymology: ME snowen < OE sniwian

transitive verb

  1. to shower or let fall as or like snow
  2. ☆ to cover, obstruct, etc. with or as with snow: usually with in, up, under, etc.
  3. ☆ Slang to deceive, mislead, or win over by glib talk, flattery, etc.

snow Idioms

snow under

☆
  1. to weigh down or overwhelm with work, etc.
  2. to defeat decisively

Snow Definition

Snow (snō)

Snow, C(harles) P(ercy) Baron Snow of Leicester 1905-80; Eng. novelist & physicist

snow Synonyms

snow

n.

  1. A snowstorm

    blizzard, snowfall, snow flurry; see storm 1.

  2. Frozen vapor

    snow crystal, snowflake, slush, sleet, snowdrift, snowbank, snow blanket, powder snow, snow pack, snowfall, fall of snow, snow field.

  3. *A drug

    opium, cocaine, coke*, heroin; see drug 2.

snow Synonyms

snow

v.

  1. To fall or let fall as snow

    storm, whiten, blanket, spit snow, blizzard, cover, pelt, shower, sleet.

  2. *To mislead

    overawe, beguile, bamboozle*, to pull the wool over someone's eyes*; see mislead.

snow Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • melt: With the melted snows from nearby mountain ranges, there is no lack of water for irrigation.
  • shovel: I had a tough go as a kid and my animals kept me going, I shoveled snow mowed lawns to buy feed.
  • thaw: This crossing might be hazardous, or even impossible, if the river is in spate after heavy rain or thawing snow.
  • blow: Each night the wind would blow the snow off the moor to drift across the road and the work had to start again.
  • lie: In Northern Ireland there was 18cm of lying snow.

Adjective modifier

  • powdery: Had to cut a channel 4 5 foot deep through the powdery snow.
  • heavy: Heavy snow also affected NE Scotland forcing 80 schools to close.
  • fresh: We had five days left, and no chance of setting foot on the route until two meters of fresh snow had settled.
  • unconsolidated: Ben Nevis has piles of new unconsolidated snow from the foot of Tower Ridge upwards in all locations.
  • unstable: Due to poorer visibility and unstable snow next day we went skiing.
  • deep: Black Forest families carved cuckoo clocks during the hard and long winters when deep snow kept them inside.

Modifies a noun

  • leopard: The next thing she new she was being pounced on by a snow leopard.
  • flurry: About Bob, the pages flutter down, in a pathetic little snow flurry.
  • plow: Our winter service vehicles can all be quickly fitted with snow plows.
  • cannon: Almost all the slopes are covered by snow cannons.
  • storm: Where else in the world would you change draw times to accommodate players stranded in New York by an early season snow storm.
  • slope: From base camp, we climb directly up the slope below the Urus glacier to gain easy snow slopes.

Noun used with modifier

  • powder: For expert skiers, powder snow provides the ultimate experience on skis.
  • winter: In the winter snow, they can change color to white to avoid detection.
  • shovel: I can drive all over the place, I can go for walks, I can shovel snow.