snow
part of speech
noun (snow); verb (snow, snows, snowed, snowing)
meaning for a pupil
1) Soft white flakes of frozen water that fall from clouds when it is very cold. tree →
2) A layer of fallen snow on the ground. tree →
3) As a verb, to fall as snow: "It's snowing!" tree →
sense in the lessons
In science, snow forms when water vapour freezes in cold clouds; every snowflake has six sides; snow melts at 0 °C into water. In safety: wear warm clothes; snow and ice are slippery; don't walk on frozen ponds. In Canada and the north of the USA, snow days close schools. Phrases: snowman, snowball, snowflake, snow day, snowed in, snowed under (very busy).
examples
- It snowed all night. tree →
- We built a snowman. tree →
- Snow is frozen water. tree →
- Every snowflake has six sides. tree →
- School was closed for a snow day. tree →
- Snow melts when it gets warm. tree →
- Walk carefully on the snow. tree →
- I'm snowed under with homework. tree →
- There fell a shower of snow. tree →
note
"Snow" is uncountable: "some snow", "a lot of snow"; one piece is "a snowflake". Snow rarely falls in most of Australia, but it snows in its mountains and in New Zealand.
In the corpora
- An amber weather warning means bad weather is likely and people should be ready; it does not promise a snow day.
- Hard deer hooves grip soil and snow but slip on smooth ice, so real deer avoid frozen ponds where they can.
- In summer the tundra has huge swarms of mosquitoes, so thick that caribou run to windy hills or snow patches to escape them.
- Ringed seals dig snow caves on the ice to hide their pups and keep breathing holes open by scratching the ice with strong claws.
- Snow leopards cannot roar like lions and tigers; they hiss, growl and make a puffing sound instead.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «snow» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.