cold front

[ kohld-fruhnt ]
See synonyms for cold front on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the zone separating two air masses, of which the cooler, denser mass is advancing and replacing the warmer.

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Origin of cold front

1
First recorded in 1920–25

Words Nearby cold front

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

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British Dictionary definitions for cold front

cold front

nounmeteorol
  1. the boundary line between a warm air mass and the cold air pushing it from beneath and behind as it moves

  2. the line on the earth's surface where the cold front meets it

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 cold front

cold front

  1. The forward edge of an advancing mass of cold air that pushes under a mass of warm air. Cold fronts often cause precipitation; water vapor in the rising warm air condenses and forms clouds, often resulting in heavy rain, thunderstorms, hail, or snow. Winter cold fronts can cause temperatures to drop significantly. Summer cold fronts reduce humidity as drier, cooler air displaces the humid, warmer air. On a weather map, a cold front is depicted as a blue line with triangles that point in the direction in which the cold air is moving. Compare occluded front warm front. See illustration at front.

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