sleet

[ sleet ]

noun

1. precipitation in the form of ice pellets created by the freezing of rain as it falls ( hail ² ).
2. glaze ( def 17 ).
3. Chiefly British. a mixture of rain and snow.

verb (used without object)

1. to send down sleet.
2. to fall as or like sleet.

sleet

/ sliːt /

noun

1. partly melted falling snow or hail or (esp US) partly frozen rain
2. the thin coat of ice that forms when sleet or rain freezes on cold surfaces

verb

1. intr to fall as sleet

sleet

/ slēt /

1. Precipitation that falls to earth in the form of frozen or partially frozen raindrops, often when the temperature is near the freezing point. Sleet usually leaves the cloud in the form of snow that melts as it passes through warm layers of air during its descent. The raindrops and partially melted snowflakes then freeze in the colder layers nearer the earth before striking the ground as pellets of ice, which usually bounce. By contrast, hail forms by the accumulation of layers of ice on the hailstone as it moves up and down in the cloud, and hailstones can become much larger than sleet pellets. The word sleet is also used informally to describe a mixture of snow, sleet, and rain.

Derived Forms

• ˈsleety, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sleet¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the noun) Middle English slete; akin to Low German slote, German Schlossen “hail”; (for the verb) Middle English sleten, derivative of the noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sleet¹

C13: from Germanic; compare Middle Low German slōten hail, Middle High German slōze, German Schlossen hailstones

Example Sentences

Showers will be frequent in Northern Ireland along with coastal areas of England and Wales - these will probably be mixed with some rain, sleet and hail.

From BBC

Northerly winds will bring frequent showers to northern Scotland, probably falling as sleet and rain near to coastal areas.

From BBC

Expecting rain, sleet or snow?

From BBC

Video, 00:00:47Expecting rain, sleet or snow?

From BBC

In this weather set-up, one can assume we will have wintry showers coming in across Scotland and northern England with snow over mountains and maybe some sleet to lower levels.

From BBC

Related Words

• drench
• pour
• spray
• sprinkle