snow

¹

[ snoh ]

noun

1. Meteorology. precipitation in the form of ice crystals, mainly of intricately branched, hexagonal form and often agglomerated into snowflakes, formed directly from the freezing of the water vapor in the air. Compare ice crystals, snow grains, snow pellets.
2. these flakes as forming a layer on the ground or other surface.
3. the fall of these flakes or a storm during which these flakes fall.
4. something resembling a layer of these flakes in whiteness, softness, or the like:

   the snow of fresh linen.

5. Literary.
   1. white blossoms.
   2. the white color of snow.
6. Slang. cocaine or heroin.
7. Usually snows. Informal. snow tires ( def ):

   Most people up here keep their snows on through the end of April.

8. white spots or bands on a television screen caused by a weak signal. Compare hash ¹( def 5 ).

verb (used without object)

1. to send down snow; fall as snow.
2. to descend like snow.

verb (used with object)

1. to let fall as or like snow.
2. Slang.
   1. to make an overwhelming impression on:

      The view really snowed them.

   2. to persuade or deceive:

      She was snowed into believing everything.

verb phrase

1. 1. to cover with or bury in snow.
   2. to overwhelm with a larger amount of something than can be conveniently dealt with.
   3. to defeat overwhelmingly.

Snow

²

[ snoh ]

noun

1. Sir Charles Percy C. P. Snow, 1905–80, English novelist and scientist.

Snow

¹

/ snəʊ /

noun

1. SnowC(harles) P(ercy), Baron19051980MBritishWRITING: novelistSCIENCE: physicist C ( harles ) P ( ercy ), Baron. 1905–80, British novelist and physicist. His novels include the series Strangers and Brothers (1949–70)

snow

²

/ snəʊ /

noun

1. precipitation from clouds in the form of flakes of ice crystals formed in the upper atmosphere niveous
2. a layer of snowflakes on the ground
3. a fall of such precipitation
4. anything resembling snow in whiteness, softness, etc
5. the random pattern of white spots on a television or radar screen, produced by noise in the receiver and occurring when the signal is weak or absent
6. slang.
   cocaine
7. See carbon dioxide snow

verb

1. intr; with it as subject to be the case that snow is falling
2. tr; usually passive, foll by over, under, in, or up to cover or confine with a heavy fall of snow
3. often withit as subject to fall or cause to fall as or like snow
4. slang.
   tr to deceive or overwhelm with elaborate often insincere talk See snow job
5. be snowed under
   to be overwhelmed, esp with paperwork

snow

/ snō /

1. Precipitation that falls to earth in the form of ice crystals that have complex branched hexagonal patterns. Snow usually falls from stratus and stratocumulus clouds, but it can also fall from cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds.

Derived Forms

• ˈsnowless, adjective
• ˈsnowˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• snow·less adjective
• snow·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of snow¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun snou(e), Old English snāw; cognate with Dutch sneeuw, German Schnee, Old Norse snǣr, Gothic snaiws, Latin nix (genitive nivis ), Greek níps (accusative nípha ), Old Church Slavonic sněgŭ; verb derivative of the noun

Origin of snow²

First recorded in 1665–75

Word History and Origins

Origin of snow¹

Old English snāw; related to Old Norse snjōr, Gothic snaiws, Old High German snēo, Greek nipha

Idioms and Phrases

• pure as the driven snow

Example Sentences

Since working on the original “Twister” in 1996, VFX supervisor Ben Snow has earned four Oscar nominations for his contributions to fantastical projects including “Iron Man” and “Star Wars: Episode 2 — Attack of the Clones.”

From Los Angeles Times

Snow fell on Japan's highest peak about a month later than expected, as the country recovers from one of its hottest summers on record.

From BBC

Shown here, it’s paired with an 8-inch Dieffenbachia ‘Tropic Snow’ plant from Creature’s Plants & Coffee.

From Los Angeles Times

The singer's last new record, the melancholic 50 Words for Snow, was released in 2011.

From BBC

Dr. Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, addressed the obvious question, saying that this rapid succession of devastating hurricanes is at least partly due to anthropogenic climate change.

From Salon

Related Words

• blizzard
• snowstorm