n. [ LG. snaue, or D. snaauw, from LG. snau a snout, a beak. ] (Naut.) A square-rigged vessel, differing from a brig only in that she has a trysail mast close abaft the mainmast, on which a large trysail is hoisted. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Snowed p. pr. & vb. n. Snowing. ] To fall in or as snow; -- chiefly used impersonally; as, it snows; it snowed yesterday. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. snow, snaw, AS. snāw; akin to D. sneeuw, OS. & OHG. snēo, G. schnee, Icel. snær, snjōr, snajār, Sw. snö, Dan. snee, Goth. snaiws, Lith. snëgas, Russ. snieg', Ir. & Gael. sneachd, W. nyf, L. nix, nivis, Gr. acc. ni`fa, also AS. snīwan to snow, G. schneien, OHG. snīwan, Lith. snigti, L. ningit it snows, Gr. ni`fei, Zend snizh to snow; cf. Skr. snih to be wet or sticky. √172. ] 1. Watery particles congealed into white or transparent crystals or flakes in the air, and falling to the earth, exhibiting a great variety of very beautiful and perfect forms. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Snow is often used to form compounds, most of which are of obvious meaning; as, snow-capped, snow-clad, snow-cold, snow-crowned, snow-crust, snow-fed, snow-haired, snowlike, snow-mantled, snow-nodding, snow-wrought, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: Something white like snow, as the white color (argent) in heraldry; something which falls in, or as in, flakes. [ 1913 Webster ]

The field of snow with eagle of black therein. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Red snow. See under Red. [ 1913 Webster ]

Snow bunting. (Zool.) See Snowbird, 1. --
Snow cock (Zool.), the snow pheasant. --
Snow flea (Zool.), a small black leaping poduran (Achorutes nivicola) often found in winter on the snow in vast numbers. --
Snow flood, a flood from melted snow. --
Snow flower (Bot.), the fringe tree. --
Snow fly, or
Snow insect (Zool.), any one of several species of neuropterous insects of the genus Boreus. The male has rudimentary wings; the female is wingless. These insects sometimes appear creeping and leaping on the snow in great numbers. --
Snow gnat (Zool.), any wingless dipterous insect of the genus Chionea found running on snow in winter. --
Snow goose (Zool.), any one of several species of arctic geese of the genus Chen. The common snow goose (Chen hyperborea), common in the Western United States in winter, is white, with the tips of the wings black and legs and bill red. Called also white brant, wavey, and Texas goose. The blue, or blue-winged, snow goose (Chen coerulescens) is varied with grayish brown and bluish gray, with the wing quills black and the head and upper part of the neck white. Called also white head, white-headed goose, and bald brant. --
Snow leopard (Zool.), the ounce. --
Snow line, lowest limit of perpetual snow. In the Alps this is at an altitude of 9, 000 feet, in the Andes, at the equator, 16, 000 feet. --
Snow mouse (Zool.), a European vole (Arvicola nivalis) which inhabits the Alps and other high mountains. --
Snow pheasant (Zool.), any one of several species of large, handsome gallinaceous birds of the genus Tetraogallus, native of the lofty mountains of Asia. The Himalayn snow pheasant (Tetraogallus Himalayensis) in the best-known species. Called also snow cock, and snow chukor. --
Snow partridge. (Zool.) See under Partridge. --
Snow pigeon (Zool.), a pigeon (Columba leuconota) native of the Himalaya mountains. Its back, neck, and rump are white, the top of the head and the ear coverts are black. --
Snow plant (Bot.), a fleshy parasitic herb (Sarcodes sanguinea) growing in the coniferous forests of California. It is all of a bright red color, and is fabled to grow from the snow, through which it sometimes shoots up. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To scatter like snow; to cover with, or as with, snow. Donne. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Snowballed p. pr. & vb. n. Snowballing. ] To pelt with snowballs; to throw snowballs at. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To throw snowballs. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To increase in magnitude at an accelerating rate, achieving large proportions; -- by analogy with a snowball rolling down a steep hill, causing a large snow slide. [ PJC ]

n. 1. A round mass of snow pressed or roller together, or anything resembling such a mass. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) The Guelder-rose. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) a shrub of the genus Viburnum, having large clusters of white flowers. [ PJC ]

Snowball bush or
Snowball tree (Bot.), the Guelder-rose. --
a snowball's chance in hell, [ Colloq. ] no chance; an infinitesimal chance. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

. A bannerlike stream of snow blown into the air from a mountain peak, often having a pinkish color and extending horizontally for several miles across the sky. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Bot.) A name of several shrubs with white berries; as, the Symphoricarpus racemosus of the Northern United States, and the Chiococca racemosa of Florida and tropical America. [ 1913 Webster ]

Creeping snowberry. (Bot.) See under Creeping. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) (a) An arctic finch (Plectrophenax nivalis syn. Plectrophanes nivalis) common, in winter, both in Europe and the United States, and often appearing in large flocks during snowstorms. It is partially white, but variously marked with chestnut and brown. Called also snow bunting, snowflake, snowfleck, and snowflight. (b) Any finch of the genus Junco which appears in flocks in winter time, especially Junco hyemalis in the Eastern United States; -- called also blue snowbird. See Junco. (c) The fieldfare. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]