n. & v.
--n.
1. the coldest season of the year, in the N. hemisphere from December to February and in the S. hemisphere from June to August.
2 Astron. the period from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox.
3 a bleak or lifeless period or region etc. (nuclear winter).
4 poet. a year (esp. of a person's age) (a man of fifty winters).
5 (attrib.) a characteristic of or suitable for winter (winter light; winter clothes). b (of fruit) ripening late or keeping until or during winter. c (of wheat or other crops) sown in autumn for harvesting the following year.
--v.
1. intr. (usu. foll. by at, in) pass the winter (likes to winter in the Canaries).
2 tr. keep or feed (plants, cattle) during winter.
Phrases and idioms:
winter aconite see ACONITE 2. winter cress any bitter-tasting cress of the genus Barbarea, esp. B. vulgaris. winter garden a garden or conservatory of plants flourishing in winter. winter jasmine a jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum, with yellow flowers. winter quarters a place where soldiers spend the winter. winter sleep hibernation. winter solstice see SOLSTICE. winter sports sports performed on snow or ice esp. in winter (e.g. skiing and ice-skating). winter-tide poet. WINTERTIME.
Derivatives:
winterer n. winterless adj. winterly adj.
Etymology: OE f. Gmc, prob. rel. to WET