Word Meanings - WINTER - Book Publishers vocabulary database

OHG. wintar, G. winter, D. & Sw. vinter, Icel. vetr, Goth. wintrus; of uncertain origin; cf. Old Gallic vindo- white , OIr. find white. 1. The season of the year in which the sun shines most obliquely upon any region; the coldest season of the

Additional info about word: WINTER

OHG. wintar, G. winter, D. & Sw. vinter, Icel. vetr, Goth. wintrus; of uncertain origin; cf. Old Gallic vindo- white , OIr. find white. 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. And after summer evermore succeeds Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold. Shak. Winter lingering chills the lap of May. Goldsmith. Note: North of the equator, winter is popularly taken to include the months of December, January, and February . Astronomically, it may be considered to begin with the winter solstice, about December 21st, and to end with the vernal equinox, about March 21st. 2. The period of decay, old age, death, or the like. Life's autumn past, I stand on winter's verge. Wordsworth. 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 , the name of several American shrubs (Ilex verticillata, I. lævigata, etc.) of the Holly family, having bright red berries conspicuous in winter. -- Winter bloom. A plant of the genus Azalea. A plant of the genus Hamamelis ; witch-hazel; -- so called from its flowers appearing late in autumn, while the leaves are falling. -- Winter bud , a statoblast. -- Winter cherry , a plant of the Nightshade family, which has, a red berry inclosed in the inflated and persistent calyx. See Alkekengi. -- Winter cough , a form of chronic bronchitis marked by a cough recurring each winter. -- Winter cress , a yellow-flowered cruciferous plant -- Winter crop, a crop which will bear the winter, or which may be converted into fodder during the winter. -- Winter duck. The pintail. The old squaw. -- Winter egg , 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. Same as White sage, under White. -- Winter fever , pneumonia. -- Winter flounder. See the Note under Flounder. -- Winter gull , the common European gull; -- called also winter mew. -- Winter itch. See Prarie itch, under Prairie. -- Winter lodge, or Winter lodgment. Same as Hibernaculum. -- Winter mew. Same as Winter gull, above. -- Winter moth , 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 , the gizzard shad. -- Winter sheldrake , the goosander. -- Winter sleep , hibernation. -- Winter snipe , the dunlin. -- Winter solstice. See Solstice, 2. -- Winter teal , the green-winged teal. -- Winter wagtail , the gray wagtail . -- Winter wheat, wheat sown in autumn, which lives during the winter, and ripens in the following summer. -- Winter wren , a small American wren closely resembling the common wren.

Related words: (words related to WINTER)

• WHITECAP
  The European redstart; -- so called from its white forehead. The whitethroat; -- so called from its gray head. The European tree sparrow. 2. A wave whose crest breaks into white foam, as when the wind is freshening.
• WHITE-FRONTED
  Having a white front; as, the white-fronted lemur. White- fronted goose , the white brant, or snow goose. See Snow goose, under Snow.
• WHITE FLY
  Any one of numerous small injurious hemipterous insects of the genus Aleyrodes, allied to scale insects. They are usually covered with a white or gray powder.
• WHITESTER
  A bleacher of lines; a whitener; a whitster.
• WHITE-HEART
  A somewhat heart-shaped cherry with a whitish skin.
• WHITESIDE
  The golden-eye.
• GALLICAN
  An adherent to, and supporter of, Gallicanism. Shipley.
• WINTER-BEATEN
  Beaten or harassed by the severe weather of winter. Spenser.
• WHITE-EAR
  The wheatear.
• WHITEBLOW
  See WHITLOW
• WHITEWING
  The chaffinch; -- so called from the white bands on the wing. The velvet duck.
• WHITEWALL
  The spotted flycatcher; -- so called from the white color of the under parts.
• WHITE MUSTARD
  A kind of mustard with rough-hairy foliage, a long-beaked hispid pod, and pale seeds, which yield mustard and mustard oil. The plant is also grown for forage.
• WINTER'S BARK
  The aromatic bark of tree of the Magnolia family, which is found in Southern Chili. It was first used as a cure for scurvy by its discoverer, Captain John Winter, vice admiral to sir Francis Drake, in 1577.
• WHITE-WATER
  A dangerous disease of sheep.
• ORIGINABLE
  Capable of being originated.
• UNCERTAINTY
  1. The quality or state of being uncertain. 2. That which is uncertain; something unknown. Our shepherd's case is every man's case that quits a moral certainty for an uncertainty. L'Estrange.
• WHITETHROAT
  Any one of several species of Old World warblers, esp. the common European species , called also strawsmear, nettlebird, muff, and whitecap, the garden whitethroat, or golden warbler , and the lesser whitethroat .
• WINTERWEED
  A kind of speedwell which spreads chiefly in winter. Dr. Prior.
• WHITEBILL
  The American coot.
• HEPPELWHITE
  Designating a light and elegant style developed in England under George III., chiefly by Messrs. A.Heppelwhite & Co.
• ABORIGINALLY
  Primarily.
• PHOTIC REGION
  The uppermost zone of the sea, which receives the most light.
• BUSHINESS
  The condition or quality of being bushy.
• PYROGALLIC
  Pertaining to, derived from, or designating, an acid called pyrogallol. See Pyrogallol.
• TWINTER
  A domestic animal two winters old.