snow

UK /snəʊ/ US /snoʊ/ Syllables: snow

Pronunciation

Noun A1 Beginner Neutral

Soft white flakes of frozen water that fall from the sky in cold weather.

Snow is soft white flakes of frozen water that fall from the sky in cold weather, and also the layer they form on the ground. It is usually uncountable, so you say some snow or a lot of snow. A snowfall is a fall of snow, and a snowstorm is a storm with heavy snow. Words for kinds of snow and snowy weather include flurry, powder, slush, drift and blizzard. Slush is partly melted snow. The word is also a verb, as in it snows here in winter, and it appears in many words such as snowman, snowflake and snowball. There is no common antonym, but people often contrast snow with rain or sunshine.

"The kids built a snowman out of fresh snow."

Meanings

Soft white flakes of frozen water that fall from the sky in cold weather.
The layer of such flakes on the ground.
To fall as snow (verb).

Example sentences

"The children played in the snow."

Level A1, Meaning 1
"There was a lot of snow last winter."

Level A1, Meaning 1
"It snowed all night."

Level A2, Meaning 3
"The mountain was covered in fresh snow."

Level A2, Meaning 2
"The snow melted by noon."

Level A2, Meaning 2

Look-alikes and common mistakes

sleet : Sleet is a mix of rain and ice, or freezing rain. Snow is soft flakes of ice crystals.
hail : Hail is balls of ice that fall in storms. Snow is soft flakes.
frost : Frost is a thin layer of ice that forms on surfaces from moisture in the air. Snow falls from the sky.
slush : Slush is snow that is partly melted and wet.

Word family and forms

Forms: snows, snowed, snowing

snowy snowfall snowflake snowman snowstorm snowball

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "snow".

heavy snow
fresh snow
falling snow
a snow day
melting snow
deep snow
covered in snow
snow and ice

Idioms and phrases

snowed under: Having so much work that you cannot cope.; "I am snowed under with homework this week."
white as snow: Very white.; "Her dress was as white as snow."

Origin

Snow comes from Old English snaw, which goes back to a very old root shared by many languages. Related words include Dutch sneeuw, German Schnee and Latin nix. The word was in English before the year 900, and the verb to snow was formed later from the noun.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

Snow rhymes with go and low. Picture flakes drifting down slowly, and say the word with a long o.

Test yourself

Which word fits the gap? "The children played in the _____."

Answer: snow

In your own words, what does "snow" mean?