snow
Part of speech: verb
adj
Morphological type: simple
Topics: card-games
poker
Etymology: 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, verb sense 2.3.2 (“to convince or hoodwink (someone)”) probably refers to a person being blinded or confused by a snowstorm.
The adjective comes from the phrase a snowball's chance in hell, also see snowball clause at Wikipedia.
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”)
Inflected forms:
form: snows
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: snowing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: snowed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: snew
pos: verb
tags: dialectal
past
form: snowed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: snew
pos: verb
tags: dialectal
participle
past
form: snown
pos: verb
tags: dialectal
participle
past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: snow
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: snow
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: snowed
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: snow
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: snowest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: snowed
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: snowedst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: snows
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: snoweth
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: snowed
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: snow
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: snowed
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: snow
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: snowed
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: snow
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: snowing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: snowed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
Senses:
gloss: Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have snow (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1) fall from the atmosphere.
pos: verb
tags: impersonal
intransitive
examples: It is snowing.    It started to snow.
In wynter whan it ſnoweth it is good ſyttynge by a good fyre: […]
Then there was the watch with staff and lanthorn crying the hour, and the kind of weather; and those who woke up at his voice and turned them round in bed, were glad to hear it rained, or snowed, or blew, or froze, for very comfort's sake.
Oh! the weather outside is frightful / But the fire is so delightful / And since we've no place to go, / Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
gloss: Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have snow (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1) fall from the atmosphere.
pos: verb
tags: also
figuratively
impersonal
intransitive
examples: Time on this Head has ſnovv’d, yet ſtill ’tis borne / Aloft; nor thinks but on another’s Grave.
She [Diana] hath ſent (to plague vs) a huge ſauadge Boare, / Of an vn-meaſured height and magnitude. / […] / His briſtles poynted like a range of pikes / Ranck't on his backe: his foame ſnovves vvhere he feeds / His tuskes are like the Indian Oliphants.
And there the Ionian father of the rest; / A million wrinkles carved his skin; / A hundred winters snow'd upon his breast, / From cheek and throat and chin.
Then all at once he saw, staring him in the face, a knave of spades. The shock was too great for even his iron nerves; his hand trembled, his fingers involuntarily relaxed, and away shot the cards, flying over the platform and snowing upon the audience in the front rows.
gloss: To cause (something) to fall like snow.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: [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.
Ride ten thouſand daies and nights, / Till age ſnovv vvhite haires on thee, […]
Let the skie raine Potatoes: let it thunder, to the tune of Greene-ſleeues, haile-kiſſing Comfits, and ſnovv Eringoes: […]
[A]s a Sauadge Bore that (hunted longe, / Aſſayld and ſet vp) vvith his onely eyes, / Svvimming in fire keepes of the baying hounds, / Though ſuncke himſelfe, yet houlds his anger vp, / And ſnovves it forth in foame; […] So fares the furious Duke, and vvith his lookes, / Doth teach death horrors; […]
[I]n the situation of the theatrical mechanist, who, when the white paper which represented his shower of snow was exhausted, continued the storm by snowing brown [paper], I drew on my memory as long as I could, and, when that failed, eked it out with invention.
[H]e started on his feet, / Tore the king's letter, snow'd it down, and rent / The wonder of the loom thro' warp and woof / From skirt to skirt; […]
If one poor flower of thanks to thee / Be truly given, / All night then snowest down to me / Lilies of heaven!
A sweep of chilly air passed by, rustling all the leaves and snowing the flaky ashes broadcast about the fire.
gloss: To cover or scatter (a place or thing) with, or as if with, snow.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: 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.
There are three Fates, three virgin Sisters, who / Rejoicing in their wind-outspeeding wings, / Their heads with flour snowed over white and new, / Sit in a vale round which Parnassus flings / Its circling skirts— […]
gloss: To cause (hair) to turn white; also, to cause (someone) to have white hair.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
examples: 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: […]
gloss: To convince or hoodwink (someone), especially by presenting confusing information or through flattery.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
slang
transitive
examples: […] 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.
She'll expose you / When she snows you / 'Cause she knows you
gloss: To convince or hoodwink (someone), especially by presenting confusing information or through flattery.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
slang
transitive
examples: [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.
gloss: To cause (someone) to be under the effect of a drug; to dope, to drug.
pos: verb
tags: US
figuratively
slang
transitive
examples: She looked snowed, weaved around funny, didn't seem to know much what was going on.
gloss: Done because the alternate outcome is very unlikely to pass.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
Related words: avalanche
blizzard
Cascade concrete
chionodoxa
firn
freezing rain
frost
graupel
hail
igloo
nieve penitente
nival
niveous
penitentes
quinzee
quinzhee
rain
sastruga
sastrugi
zastruga
zastrugi
skiing
sleet
slush
snizzle
the old woman is plucking her goose
yukigassen
Derived words: besnow
buy when it snows, sell when it goes
it's snowing
let it snow
oversnow
snow down
snowed
snow in
snowing
snow out
snow over
snow under
snow up
unsnowed
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: sneeu
lang: Albanian
word: bie dëborë
lang: Arabic
word: أَثْلَجَ
roman: ʔaṯlaja
lang: Aragonese
word: nebar
lang: Aragonese
word: nevar
lang: Armenian
word: ձյուն գալ
roman: jyun gal
lang: Asturian
word: nevar
lang: Asturian
word: ñevar
lang: Breton
word: ober erc'h
lang: Bulgarian
word: вали сняг
roman: vali snjag
lang: Catalan
word: nevar
lang: Chickasaw
word: oktosha
lang: Chinese Cantonese
word: 落雪
roman: lok⁶ syut³
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 下雪
roman: xiàxuě
lang: Czech
word: sněžit
lang: Danish
word: sne
lang: Dutch
word: sneeuwen
lang: Esperanto
word: neĝi
lang: Evenki
word: иманамӣ
roman: imanamī
lang: Faroese
word: kava
lang: Finnish
word: pyryttää
lang: Finnish
word: sataa lunta
lang: Finnish
word: tuiskuttaa
lang: Finnish
word: tupruttaa
lang: Franco-Provençal
word: negiér
lang: Franco-Provençal
word: nevêr
lang: Franco-Provençal
word: nêvre
lang: French
word: neiger
lang: West-Frisian
word: snije
lang: Friulian
word: neveâ
lang: Georgian
word: თოვა
roman: tova
lang: German
word: schneien
lang: Greek
word: χιονίζω
roman: chionízo
lang: Ancient Greek
word: νείφω
roman: neíphō
lang: Hungarian
word: esik a hó
lang: Hungarian
word: havazik
lang: Hungarian
word: hull a hó
lang: Hunsrik
word: schnëe
lang: Icelandic
word: snjóa
lang: Icelandic
word: fenna
lang: Ido
word: nivar
lang: Irish
word: sneachta a chur
lang: Italian
word: nevicare
lang: Japanese
word: 降雪する
roman: kousetsu suru
lang: Japanese
word: 雪が降る
roman: yuki ga furu
lang: Korean
word: 눈이 내리다
roman: nuni naerida
lang: Korean
word: 눈이 오다
roman: nuni oda
lang: Latgalian
word: snigt
lang: Latin
word: ningit
lang: Latvian
word: snigt
lang: Lithuanian
word: snigti
lang: Luxembourgish
word: schneien
lang: Manchu
word: ᠨᡳᠮᠠᠩᡤᡳ ᠨᡳᠮᠠᡵᠠᠮᠪᡳ
roman: nimanggi nimarambi
lang: Manchu
word: ᠨᡳᠮᠠᡵᠠᠮᠪᡳ
roman: nimarambi
lang: Middle English
word: snewen
lang: Middle English
word: snowen
lang: Mongolian
word: цас орох
roman: cas orox
lang: Mongolian
word: цас унах
roman: cas unax
lang: Neapolitan
word: cioccà
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: snø
lang: Norwegian Nynorsk
word: snø
lang: Norwegian Nynorsk
word: snøe
lang: Occitan
word: nevar
lang: Old English
word: snīwan
lang: Persian
word: برف آمدن
roman: barf âmadan
lang: Polish
word: prószyć
lang: Polish
word: poprószyć
lang: Polish
word: śnieg pada
lang: Polish
word: śnieżyć
lang: Polish
word: sypać
lang: Polish
word: sypnąć
lang: Portuguese
word: nevar
lang: Quechua
word: rit'iy
lang: Romagnol
word: nvēr
lang: Romanian
word: a ninge
lang: Romansh
word: floccar
lang: Romansh
word: naiver
lang: Romansh
word: neiver
lang: Romansh
word: never
lang: Russian
word: снежи́ть
roman: snežítʹ
lang: Northern Sami
word: muohttit
lang: Sardinian
word: fiocare
lang: Sardinian
word: niai
lang: Sardinian
word: niare
lang: Sardinian
word: nibare
lang: Sardinian
word: nivare
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: cuir an t-sneachda
lang: Sicilian
word: nivicari
lang: Slovak
word: snežiť
lang: Slovene
word: snežíti
lang: Sotho
word: kgetheha
lang: Spanish
word: nevar
lang: Spanish
word: algaracear
lang: Swedish
word: snöa
lang: Tamil
word: பனி பொழி
roman: paṉi poḻi
lang: Tibetan
word: གངས་བཏང
lang: Turkish
word: karlamak
lang: Turkish
word: kar yağmak
lang: Tuvan
word: хар чаар
roman: xar çaar
lang: Ukrainian
word: сніжи́ти
roman: snižýty
lang: Venetan
word: nevegar
lang: Vietnamese
word: có tuyết rơi
lang: Volapük
word: nifön
lang: Welsh
word: bwrw eira
lang: Welsh
word: odi
lang: Welsh
word: pluo eira
lang: Yakut
word: хаардаа
roman: qaardaa
lang: Yakut
word: хаар түс
roman: qaar tüs
lang: Zazaki
word: vornayen
lang: Finnish
word: huijata
lang: Finnish
word: huiputtaa
lang: Finnish
word: kusettaa
lang: Finnish
word: puliveivata
lang: Russian
word: обманывать
roman: obmanyvatʹ