blizzard

[ bliz-erd ]
See synonyms for blizzard on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Meteorology.

    • a storm, technically an extratropical cyclone, with dry, driving snow, strong winds, and intense cold.

    • a heavy and prolonged snowstorm covering a wide area.

  2. an inordinately large amount all at one time: a blizzard of Christmas cards.

verb (used without object)
  1. to snow as a blizzard: Looks as though it's going to blizzard tonight.

Origin of blizzard

1
An Americanism first recorded in 1820–30 for earlier meaning “violent blow, shot”; compare British dialectal (Midlands) blizzer, blizzom “blaze, flash, anything that blinds momentarily”; probably expressive formations with components of blast, blaze1, bluster, etc.

Other words from blizzard

  • bliz·zard·y, bliz·zard·ly, adjective

Words Nearby blizzard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use blizzard in a sentence

  • "Wal, jist wait till a good winter blizzard comes through here like they do," interrupted Landy.

    David Lannarck, Midget | George S. Harney
  • blizzard” and “mugwump” were new but a short time ago: the latter is dying from disuse, the former has come to stay.

    English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
  • Snow began to fall now and a regular blizzard set in, the fine powdery snow being blown along the ground into our faces.

    Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 | Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury
  • But the cold was too much for the goats and the second blizzard killed them all.

    Space Prison | Tom Godwin
  • I've ridden night herd in a blizzard when the temperature was below zero.

    The Highgrader | William MacLeod Raine

British Dictionary definitions for blizzard

blizzard

/ (ˈblɪzəd) /


noun
  1. a strong bitterly cold wind accompanied by a widespread heavy snowfall

Origin of blizzard

1
C19: of uncertain origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for blizzard

blizzard

[ blĭzərd ]


  1. A violent snowstorm with winds blowing at a minimum speed of 56 km (35 mi) per hour and visibility of less 400 m (0.25 mi) for three hours.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.