n. [ AS. winter; akin to OFries. & D. winter, OS. & OHG. wintar, G. winter, D. & Sw. vinter, Icel. vetr, Goth. wintrus; of uncertain origin; cf. Old Gallic vindo- white (in comp.), OIr. find white. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The season of the year in which the sun shines most obliquely upon any region; the coldest season of the year. “Of thirty winter he was old.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

And after summer evermore succeeds
Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Winter lingering chills the lap of May. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ North of the equator, winter is popularly taken to include the months of December, January, and February (see Season). Astronomically, it may be considered to begin with the winter solstice, about December 21st, and to end with the vernal equinox, about March 21st. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The period of decay, old age, death, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

Life's autumn past, I stand on winter's verge. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Winter apple, an apple that keeps well in winter, or that does not ripen until winter. --
Winter barley, a kind of barley that is sown in autumn. --
Winter berry (Bot.), the name of several American shrubs (Ilex verticillata, Ilex laevigata, etc.) of the Holly family, having bright red berries conspicuous in winter. --
Winter bloom. (Bot.) (a) A plant of the genus Azalea. (b) A plant of the genus Hamamelis (Hamamelis Viginica); witch-hazel; -- so called from its flowers appearing late in autumn, while the leaves are falling. --
Winter bud (Zool.), a statoblast. --
Winter cherry (Bot.), a plant (Physalis Alkekengi) of the Nightshade family, which has, a red berry inclosed in the inflated and persistent calyx. See Alkekengi. --
Winter cough (Med.), a form of chronic bronchitis marked by a cough recurring each winter. --
Winter cress (Bot.), a yellow-flowered cruciferous plant (Barbarea vulgaris). --
Winter crop, a crop which will bear the winter, or which may be converted into fodder during the winter. --
Winter duck. (Zool.) (a) The pintail. (b) The old squaw. --
Winter egg (Zool.), an egg produced in the autumn by many invertebrates, and destined to survive the winter. Such eggs usually differ from the summer eggs in having a thicker shell, and often in being enveloped in a protective case. They sometimes develop in a manner different from that of the summer eggs. --
Winter fallow, ground that is fallowed in winter. --
Winter fat. (Bot.) Same as White sage, under White. --
Winter fever (Med.), pneumonia. [ Colloq. ] --
Winter flounder. (Zool.) See the Note under Flounder. --
Winter gull (Zool.), the common European gull; -- called also winter mew. [ Prov. Eng. ] --
Winter itch. (Med.) See Prarie itch, under Prairie. --
Winter lodge, or
Winter lodgment. (Bot.) Same as Hibernaculum. --
Winter mew. (Zool.) Same as Winter gull, above. [ Prov. Eng. ] --
Winter moth (Zool.), any one of several species of geometrid moths which come forth in winter, as the European species (Cheimatobia brumata). These moths have rudimentary mouth organs, and eat no food in the imago state. The female of some of the species is wingless. --
Winter oil, oil prepared so as not to solidify in moderately cold weather. --
Winter pear, a kind of pear that keeps well in winter, or that does not ripen until winter. --
Winter quarters, the quarters of troops during the winter; a winter residence or station. --
Winter rye, a kind of rye that is sown in autumn. --
Winter shad (Zool.), the gizzard shad. --
Winter sheldrake (Zool.), the goosander. [ Local, U. S. ] --
Winter sleep (Zool.), hibernation. --
Winter snipe (Zool.), the dunlin. --
Winter solstice. (Astron.) See Solstice, 2. --
Winter teal (Zool.), the green-winged teal. --
Winter wagtail (Zool.), the gray wagtail (Motacilla melanope). [ Prov. Eng. ] --
Winter wheat, wheat sown in autumn, which lives during the winter, and ripens in the following summer. --
Winter wren (Zool.), a small American wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) closely resembling the common wren. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To keep, feed or manage, during the winter; as, to winter young cattle on straw. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Wintered p. pr. & vb. n. Wintering. ] To pass the winter; to hibernate; as, to winter in Florida. [ 1913 Webster ]

Because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence. Acts xxvii. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Beaten or harassed by the severe weather of winter. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A plant which keeps its leaves green through the winter. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In England, the name wintergreen is applied to the species of Pyrola which in America are called English wintergreen, and shin leaf (see Shin leaf, under Shin.) In America, the name wintergreen is given to Gaultheria procumbens, a low evergreen aromatic plant with oval leaves clustered at the top of a short stem, and bearing small white flowers followed by red berries; -- called also checkerberry, and sometimes, though improperly, partridge berry. [ 1913 Webster ]

Chickweed wintergreen, a low perennial primulaceous herb (Trientalis Americana); -- also called star flower. --
Flowering wintergreen, a low plant (Polygala paucifolia) with leaves somewhat like those of the wintergreen (Gaultheria), and bearing a few showy, rose-purple blossoms. --
oil of wintergreen, An aromatic oil, consisting almost entirely of methyl salicylate (CH3CO.O.C6H4.OH), obtained by distillation of an extract of the wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens); it can also be obtained from some other plants. It is used as a flavoring agent for tooth powders and pastes, sometimes combined with menthol or eucalyptus. It is called also oil of teaberry, oil of partridgeberry, and oil of gaultheria. --
Spotted wintergreen, a low evergreen plant (Chimaphila maculata) with ovate, white-spotted leaves. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

v. t. To coved over in the season of winter, as for protection or shelter; as, to winter-ground the roods of a plant. [ 1913 Webster ]

The ruddock would . . . bring thee all this,
Yea, and furred moss besides, when flowers are none
To winter-ground thy corse. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To die as the result of exposure to the cold of winter; as, the tree winterkills easily. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Winterkilled p. pr. & vb. n. Winterkilling. ] To kill by the cold, or exposure to the inclemency of winter; as, the wheat was winterkilled. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like winter; wintry; cold; hence, disagreeable, cheerless; as, winterly news. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The sir growing more winterly in the month of April. Camden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having too rank or forward a growth for winter. [ 1913 Webster ]

When either corn is winter-proud, or other plants put forth and bud too early. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]