snow

[ snoh ]
See synonyms for snow on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. the fall of these flakes or a storm during which these flakes fall.

  2. something resembling a layer of these flakes in whiteness, softness, or the like: the snow of fresh linen.

  3. Literary.

    • white blossoms.

    • the white color of snow.

  4. Slang. cocaine or heroin.

  5. Usually snows .Informal. snow tires: Most people up here keep their snows on through the end of April.

  6. white spots or bands on a television screen caused by a weak signal.: Compare hash1 (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.

    • to make an overwhelming impression on: The view really snowed them.

    • to persuade or deceive: She was snowed into believing everything.

Verb Phrases
  1. snow under,

    • to cover with or bury in snow.

    • to overwhelm with a larger amount of something than can be conveniently dealt with.

    • to defeat overwhelmingly.

Origin of snow

1
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

Other words from snow

  • snow·less, adjective
  • snow·like, adjective

Other definitions for Snow (2 of 2)

Snow
[ snoh ]

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

Origin of Snow

2
First recorded in 1665–75

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

How to use snow in a sentence

  • But he did not, and the game ended, as might have been expected, with the Cardinals snowing under their country opponents.

British Dictionary definitions for snow (1 of 2)

snow

/ (snəʊ) /


noun
  1. precipitation from clouds in the form of flakes of ice crystals formed in the upper atmosphere: Related adjective: niveous

  2. a layer of snowflakes on the ground

  1. a fall of such precipitation

  2. anything resembling snow in whiteness, softness, etc

  3. 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

  4. slang cocaine

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

  1. (often with it as subject) to fall or cause to fall as or like snow

  2. (tr) US and Canadian slang to deceive or overwhelm with elaborate often insincere talk: See snow job

  3. be snowed under to be overwhelmed, esp with paperwork

Origin of snow

1
Old English snāw; related to Old Norse snjōr, Gothic snaiws, Old High German snēo, Greek nipha

Derived forms of snow

  • snowless, adjective
  • snowlike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Snow (2 of 2)

Snow

/ (snəʊ) /


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

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 snow

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.

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with snow

snow

In addition to the idioms beginning with snow

  • snow job
  • snow under

also see:

  • pure as the driven snow

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.