snow

1. precipitation from clouds in the form of flakes of ice crystals formed in the upper atmosphere

2. a layer of snowflakes on the ground

3. a fall of such precipitation

4. 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

5. Slang cocaine

6. See carbon dioxide snow

Snow

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

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

What does it mean when you dream about snow?

Because water is a natural symbol of emotional states, snow may indicate chilled and unexpressed emotions, either in the dreamer or in someone else. Naturally, a snowy landscape might simply be a part of the setting for dreamers living in the Snow Belt.

snow

[snō]

(electronics)

Small, random, white spots produced on a television or radar screen by inherent noise signals originating in the receiver.

(meteorology)

The most common form of frozen precipitation, usually flakes of starlike crystals, matted ice needles, or combinations, and often rime-coated.

snow

A type of water vapor that changes directly into crystals of ice flakes when frozen in the upper air. It is called snow flurries if the snow showers for a brief period and the snow is very light. It is called snow grains if the snow falls as small, white, opaque, flat or elongated grains of ice. With snow pellets, the precipitation is in the form of white, opaque, round or conical ice particles with a diameter of about 0.08 to 0.2 in. When on the ground, snow can be dry, wet, or compacted. Dry snow (specific gravity: up to but not including 0.35) can be blown if loose or, if compacted by hand, it will fall apart again upon release. Wet snow (specific gravity: 0.35 up to but not including 0.5), if compacted by hand, will stick together and tend to form a snowball. Compacted snow (specific gravity: 0.5 and over) has been compressed into a solid mass that resists further compression and will hold together or break up into lumps if picked up. On weather charts, snow is represented by the symbol *.

snow

“pure as the driven snow.” [Western Folklore: Misc.]

See: Purity

snow

The flickering snow-like spots on a video screen caused by display electronics that are too slow to respond to changing data.

Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.

Snow

(dreams)

Snow symbolizes chilled and unexpressed emotions or emotions that have been repressed for an extended period of time. The snow in your dream suggests that you or someone else is emotionally cold, unresponsive, and indifferent. Clean, white snow may represent innocence, truth, peace, and relaxation. Virgin snow, as you may see it covering a beautiful landscape, may represent new beginnings or a new way of seeing things, and dirty snow may represent guilt. In literary works such as “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls, ” snow represents death.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Snow

frozen atmospheric precipitation falling from clouds in the form of flakes or ice crystals; the flakes or crystals are varied in shape but are basically hexagonal plates or hexahedral columns. The diameter of snowflakes varies from fractions of a millimeter to several millimeters. In calm weather at an atmospheric temperature of approximately 0°C, snowflakes may combine upon collision to form large flakes with diameters up to several centimeters. The average weight of individual snowflakes varies from 0.0001 g to 0.003 g; large snowflakes may weigh up to 0.2-0.5 g. At temperate and high latitudes, snow is the usual form of winter precipitation and forms a snow cover. The amount of fallen snow is measured with a precipitation gage. [23–1877–]

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

He is in the snow by the trail, and his leg is broken.

We left the man with one eye there in the snow, and he died there in the snow, for McKeon never went back for him.

View in context

The lofty range of the Three Tetons, those great landmarks of the Rocky Mountains rising in the east and circling away to the north and west of the great plain of Snake River, and the mountains of Salt River and Portneuf toward the south, catch the earliest falls of snow. Their white robes lengthen as the winter advances, and spread themselves far into the plain, driving the buffalo in herds to the banks of the river in quest of food; where they are easily slain in great numbers.

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Violet still seemed to be the guiding spirit, while Peony acted rather as a laborer, and brought her the snow from far and near.

"Bring me those light wreaths of snow that have rested on the lower branches of the pear-tree.

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The snow was falling from above and sometimes rose from below.

'Why, this must be the Goryachkin forest!' said Vasili Andreevich, pointing to something dark that appeared amid the snow in front of them.

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As it was, he tied on his snowshoes, left the dogs curled in the snow and Kama breathing heavily under his rabbit skins, and climbed up to the big flat above the high earth-bank.

He glanced at the Indian sleeping beside him, at the embers of the dying fire, at the five dogs beyond, with their wolf's brushes curled over their noses, and at the four snowshoes standing upright in the snow.

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The oxen are lost in the snow. No man knows whither they have gone, or whether they live or are now but hides and bones.

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It was a lady; her cloak and cap were of snow. She was tall and of slender figure, and of a dazzling whiteness.

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On each side of the ridge, we had to pass over broad bands of perpetual snow, which were now soon to be covered by a fresh layer.

View in context