What does "snow" mean?
The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling of such flakes; and the accumulation of them on the ground or on objects as a white layer.
Snow
/snəʊ̯/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling of such flakes; and the accumulation of them on the ground or on objects as a white layer.
- Grammar: snow is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: snowfall, accord, administer, afford.
- Useful contrasts: clear, clear weather, inform.
- Usage evidence: Judging from the look of the sky, we may have snow tomorrow.
How to use "snow"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "snow" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "snow" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "snow" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "snow" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "snow" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "snowfall" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "snow", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling of such flakes; and the accumulation of them on the ground or on objects as a white layer. uncountable
"Snow is white, / And lieth in the dike. And every man lets it lye."
- 2 A square-rigged sailing vessel similar to a brig formerly used as a warship, with a foremast, a mainmast, and a trysail mast immediately abaft (behind) the mainmast. historical
"An ESTIMATE made of the Annual Expence of a Snow of 120 Tons, and 48 Men (Officers included) Mounting 12 Carriage Guns, beſides Swivels."
- 3 street names for cocaine wordnet
- 4 The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling of such flakes; and the accumulation of them on the ground or on objects as a white layer.; An instance of the falling of snow (etymology 1 sense 1); a snowfall; also, a snowstorm. countable
"We have had several heavy snows this year."
- 5 precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals wordnet
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling of such flakes; and the accumulation of them on the ground or on objects as a white layer.; A period of time when snow falls; a winter. countable
"They sang, that by his native bowers / He stood, in the last moon of flowers, / And thirty snows had not yet shed / Their glory on the warrior's head; […]"
- 7 a layer of snowflakes (white crystals of frozen water) covering the ground wordnet
- 8 The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling of such flakes; and the accumulation of them on the ground or on objects as a white layer.; An accumulation or spread of snow. countable
"VVhen VVinter ſhuts the Seas, and fleecy Snovvs / Make Houſes vvhite, ſhe to the Merchant goes: / Rich Cryſtals of the Rock She takes up there, / Huge Agat Vaſes, and old China VVare: […]"
- 9 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; A dish or component of a dish resembling snow, especially one made by whipping egg whites until creamy. countable
"apple snow lemon snow"
- 10 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; The white color of snow. countable, uncountable
"The daughters of the land were beautiful, with blue eyes and fair hair, and bosoms of snow, […]"
- 11 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; Clusters of white flowers. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"A scent of pine-wood from a tent-like pile of planks outside the open door mingled itself with the scent of the elder-bushes which were spreading their summer snow close to the open window opposite; […]"
- 12 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; The moving pattern of random dots seen on a radar or television screen, etc., when no transmission signal is being received or when there is interference. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"Near-synonym: static"
- 13 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; Sea foam; sea spray. countable, figuratively, uncountable
- 14 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; Also in the plural: white hair on an (older) person's head. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"Indeed, to the laſt days of her life, my Lady Viſcounteſs had the comfort of fancying herſelf beautiful, and perſiſted in blooming up to the very midſt of winter, painting roſes on her cheeks long after their natural ſeaſon, and attiring herſelf like ſummer though her head was covered with ſnow."
- 15 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; White marble. countable, figuratively, poetic, uncountable
"Ere now marmoreal floods had spread their couch / Of perdurable snow, or granite wrought / Its skyward impulse from earth's hearth of fire / Up to insanest heights."
- 16 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; Money, especially silver coins. countable, figuratively, slang, uncountable
- 17 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; White linen which has been washed. countable, dated, figuratively, slang, uncountable
- 18 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; Chiefly with a descriptive word: a substance other than water resembling snow when frozen; specifically, frozen carbon dioxide. countable, uncountable
"Clad in a coldsuit Jael trudged through a thin layer of CO₂ snow towards the gates of the Arena."
- 19 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; Clipping of marine snow (“sinking organic detritus in the ocean”). abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, uncountable
"Lower down, in the 95 per cent of the ocean where light does not penetrate, many living things feed on ‘marine snow’, the steady drizzle of particles of dead matter, whitish in colour, gradually sinking from the euphotic zone above. Other animals then feed on the ‘snow’ eaters."
- 20 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; Powder cocaine. slang, uncountable
"Aren’t I telling you that’s why I didn’t taste it? […] Besides, if it wasn’t poison, it might be ‘snow’ or something."
- 21 Something resembling snow (etymology 1 sense 1) in appearance or color.; An opiate powder, whether heroin or morphine. countable, slang, uncommon, uncountable
Verb
- 1 Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have snow (noun etymology 1 sense 1) fall from the atmosphere. impersonal, intransitive
"It is snowing. It started to snow."
- 2 conceal one's true motives from especially by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end wordnet
- 3 Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have snow (noun etymology 1 sense 1) fall from the atmosphere.; Of a thing: to fall like snow. also, figuratively, impersonal, intransitive
"Time on this Head has ſnovv’d, yet ſtill ’tis borne / Aloft; nor thinks but on another’s Grave."
- 4 fall as snow wordnet
- 5 To cause (something) to fall like snow. transitive
"[A]t the ſetting out of a verie ſtatelie tragedie named Dido, wherein the quéenes banket (with Eneas narration of the deſtruction of Troie) was liuelie deſcribed in a marchpaine patterne, there was alſo a goodlie ſight of hunters with full crie of a kennell of hounds, Mercurie and Iris deſcending and aſcending from and to an high place, the tempeſt wherein it hailed ſmall confects, rained roſewater, and ſnew an artificiall kind of ſnow, all ſtrange, maruellous, ⁊ [and] abundant."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 To cover or scatter (a place or thing) with, or as if with, snow. transitive
"Even the Horſe wee ride / Vnſhod, would founder, who takes greateſt pride, / When the moſt curb'd, and playing with the bit, / Hee ſnowes the ground [with froth from his mouth], and doth the Spurre forgit."
- 7 To cause (hair) to turn white; also, to cause (someone) to have white hair. figuratively, transitive
"Ah, courteous England, thy kinde arms I ſee / VVide-stretched out to ſaue and vvelcom me. / Thou (tender Mother) vvilt not ſuffer Age / To ſnovve my locks in Forrein Pilgrimage: […]"
- 8 To convince or hoodwink (someone), especially by presenting confusing information or through flattery. figuratively, slang, transitive
"[…] I concluded that the best thing would be to try to snow him a little, so I said that I had heard many marvelous reports about the Wariri. As I couldn't think of any details just then, I was just as glad that he didn't ask me to be specific."
- 9 To convince or hoodwink (someone), especially by presenting confusing information or through flattery.; To bluff (an opponent) in draw poker by playing a hand which has no value, or by refusing to draw any cards. figuratively, slang, transitive
"[T]he Adventurer knew that despite what [Mike] Caro had said, there was a good chance that he was "snowing" (playing a hand that had no value and could win only if his opponent threw his cards away). Notice that this creates a dilemma for the Adventurer. If he bets and Caro is on a snow, he will lose a bet, but if he checks and his opponent is not on a snow, he also will lose a bet."
- 10 To cause (someone) to be under the effect of a drug; to dope, to drug. US, figuratively, slang, transitive
"She looked snowed, weaved around funny, didn't seem to know much what was going on."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"Judging from the look of the sky, we may have snow tomorrow."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "snow"?
Common synonyms include: snowfall, accord, administer, afford, alabaster, allot.
How do you use "snow" in a sentence?
Judging from the look of the sky, we may have snow tomorrow.
How do you pronounce "snow"?
Pronounced /snəʊ̯/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
The noun is derived from Middle English snaw, snou, snow (“snow; accumulation of snow; snowfall; snowstorm; whiteness”), from Old English snāw (“snow”), from Proto-West Germanic *snaiw (“snow”), from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz (“snow”), from Proto-Indo-European *snóygʷʰos (“snow”), from *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”). The verb is derived from Middle English snouen (“to snow; (figurative) to shower”), from snou, snow (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). Displaced Old English snīwan, whence English snew (obsolete). Verb etymology 1 sense 2.3.2 (“to convince or hoodwink (someone)”) probably refers to a person being blinded or confused by a snowstorm. Cognates * Scots snaw (“snow”) * Yola sneew, sneow, snow, snowe (“snow”) * North Frisian Sne, sni, snii, snii'e, snä, snäi (“snow”) * Saterland Frisian Snee (“snow”) * West Frisian snie (“snow”) * Alemannic German schnee, schnei, schnia, schné, schnìj (“snow”) * Bavarian schnea, sghneab (“snow”) * Cimbrian snea, snèa (“snow”) * Dutch snee, sneeuw (“snow”) * German Schnee (“snow”) * Limburgish Schnië, snieë (“snow”) * Luxembourgish Schnéi (“snow”) * Mòcheno schnea (“snow”) * Vilamovian śnej, šnej, śnyi (“snow”) * Yiddish שניי (shney, “snow”) * Danish sne (“snow”) * Elfdalian sniųo (“snow”) * Faroese snjógvur (“snow”) * Icelandic snjár, snjór, snær (“snow”) * Norwegian Bokmål sne, snø (“snow”) * Norwegian Nynorsk snjo, snø (“snow”) * Swedish snö (“snow”) * Gothic 𐍃𐌽𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃 (snaiws, “snow”) * Irish sneachta (“snow”) * Manx sniaghtey (“snow”) * Scottish Gaelic sneachd, sneachda (“snow”) * Welsh nyf (“snow”) * Latin nix (“snow”) * Ancient Greek νίψ (níps, “snow”) * Latvian snìegs (“snow”) * Lithuanian sniẽgas (“snow”) * Belarusian, Russian, and Macedonian снег (sneg, “snow”) * Bulgarian сняг (snjag, “snow”) * Czech sníh (“snow”) * Polish śnieg, śmiég (“snow”) * Serbo-Croatian сне̑г, сније̑г, snȇg, snig, snijȇg (“snow”) * Slovak sneh (“snow”) * Slovene sneg (“snow”) * Ukrainian сніг (snih, “snow”) * Shughni жиниҷ (žiniǰ, “snow”) * Avestan 𐬯𐬥𐬀𐬉𐬲𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (snaēžaⁱti, “to snow”) * Sanskrit स्नेह (snéha, “grease, oil”)
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Dutch snauw, snaauw, or Low German snau; further etymology uncertain, possibly from Low German snau (“beak”), related to Middle Low German snute (“snout”) (whence English snout), from Proto-West Germanic *snūt (“snout”), from Proto-Germanic *snūtaz (“snout”), possibly imitative.