overwinter

[ oh-ver-win-ter ]

verb (used without object)
  1. to pass, spend, or survive the winter: to overwinter on the Riviera.

Origin of overwinter

1
First recorded in 1890–95; over- + winter, replacing Old English oferwintran “to get through the winter,” which had become obsolete by the end of the Old English period (around 1150), and modeled on Norwegian and Danish overvintre, Swedish övervintra, Dutch overwinteren, or German überwintern

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

How to use overwinter in a sentence

  • He was now in apparently good health, but he declared that it would cost him his life to remain in the North over winter.

    Up the River | Oliver Optic
  • In northern latitudes eggs or young turtles may over-winter in the nest if deposition is late in the season.

  • Only the bees that over-winter in the hive must have some spare moments on their hands.

    Insect Stories | Vernon L. Kellogg

British Dictionary definitions for overwinter

overwinter

/ (ˌəʊvəˈwɪntə) /


verb
  1. (intr) to spend winter (in or at a particular place)

  2. (tr) to keep (animals or plants) alive through the winter

  1. (intr) (of an animal or plant) to remain alive throughout the winter

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