winter
n
a sometimes cap the coldest season of the year, between autumn and spring, astronomically from the December solstice to the March equinox in the N hemisphere and at the opposite time of year in the S hemisphere
b (as modifier)
winter pasture
2 the period of cold weather associated with the winter
3 a time of decline, decay, etc.
4 Chiefly poetic a year represented by this season
a man of 72 winters Related adjs →
brumal →
hibernal →
hiemal
vb
5 intr to spend the winter in a specified place
6 to keep or feed (farm animals, etc.) during the winter or (of farm animals) to be kept or fed during the winter (Old English; related to Old Saxon, Old High German wintar, Old Norse vetr, Gothic wintrus) ♦
winterer n ♦
winterish, winter-like adj ♦
winterless adj
nuclear winter
n a period of extremely low temperatures and little light that has been suggested would occur as a result of a nuclear war
winter aconite
n a small Old World ranunculaceous herbaceous plant, Eranthis hyemalis, cultivated for its yellow flowers, which appear early in spring
winter cherry
n
1 a Eurasian solanaceous plant, Physalis alkekengi, cultivated for its ornamental inflated papery orange-red calyx
2 the calyx of this plant, (See also)
→
Chinese lantern →
ground cherry
winter garden
n
1 a garden of evergreen plants
2 a conservatory in which flowers are grown in winter
winter hedge
n (West Yorkshire, south Lancashire, and Derbyshire)
dialect a clothes horse
(so called in contrast to a hedge on which clothes are dried in summer)
winter heliotrope
n a creeping perennial, Petasites fragrans, related to the butterbur, having lilac to heliotrope coloured flowers smelling of vanilla: found chiefly on road verges
winter jasmine
n a jasmine shrub, Jasminum nudiflorum, widely cultivated for its winter-blooming yellow flowers
winter melon
n a variety of muskmelon, Cucumis melo inodorus, that has sweet fruit with pale orange flesh and an unridged rind, (Also called)
Persian melon
winter moth
n a brown geometrid moth, Operophtera brumata, of which the male is often seen against lighted windows in winter, the female being wingless
Winter Olympic Games
n functioning as sing or pl an international contest of winter sports, esp. skiing, held every four years, (Also called)
Winter Olympics
winter quarters
pl n housing or accommodation for the winter, esp. for military personnel
winter rose
n another name for →
Christmas rose
winter solstice
n
1 the time at which the sun is at its southernmost point in the sky (northernmost point in the S hemisphere) appearing at noon at its lowest altitude above the horizon. It occurs about December 22 (June 21 in the S hemisphere)
2 (Astronomy) the point on the celestial sphere, opposite the summer solstice, at which the ecliptic is furthest south from the celestial equator. Right ascension: 18 hours; declination: --23.5°
winter sports
pl n sports held in the open air on snow or ice, esp. skiing
Winter War
n the war of the winter of 1939--40 between Finland and the USSR after which the Finns surrendered the Karelian Isthmus to the USSR
winter wheat
n a type of wheat that is planted in the autumn and is harvested the following summer