winter

noun

win·ter | \ˈwin-tər

Definition of winter

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : the season between autumn and spring comprising in the northern hemisphere usually the months of December, January, and February or as reckoned astronomically extending from the December solstice to the March equinox

2 : the colder half of the year

3 : year happened many winters ago

4 : a period of inactivity or decay

winter

verb

wintered; wintering\ˈwin-t(ə-)riŋ

Definition of winter (Entry 2 of 3)

intransitive verb

1 : to pass the winter winters in the Caribbean

2 : to feed or find food during the winter —used with on

transitive verb

: to keep, feed, or manage during the winter

winter

adjective

Definition of winter (Entry 3 of 3)

1 : of, relating to, or suitable for winter a winter vacation winter clothes

2 : sown in the autumn and harvested in the following spring or summer winter wheat winter rye — compare summer

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about winter

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Synonyms for winter

Synonyms: Noun

downtime, layoff, time-out

Examples of winter in a Sentence

Noun

They spend winters in Florida. We're in for a cold winter this year, I hear. She traveled there two winters ago. the last day of winter

Verb

The birds will winter in the southern part of the country. My family winters in Florida. The farm agreed to winter our horses for us.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The Christmas season carries us through the winter. — Lisa Rathke, The Seattle Times, "It may be harder to find the perfect Christmas tree," 21 Nov. 2018 Arles in the winter is quite severe, and there aren’t any tourists around, and restaurants are open like one or two days a week. — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, "How Willem Dafoe learned to paint like Vincent Van Gogh," 14 Nov. 2018 The Santa Ana winds are hot, dry winds that typically start blowing across Southern California in the fall and worsen through the winter when the rainy season should start. — Rachel Becker, The Verge, "Weather Channel continues its terrifying mixed reality campaign with wildfire segment," 18 Oct. 2018 Baroque architecture, castles and the cobblestoned Old Town (plus Christmas markets in the winter) in Prague, famous art in Vienna (take a day trip to Salzburg), and thermal baths, grand cafes, and castles (again!) in Budapest. — Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, "The Best Way to See Europe for the First Time Is By Train," 13 Sep. 2018 Testing of the plaza’s infrastructure will begin in the fall and last through the winter and mostly be confined to the plaza’s north side. — Milton J. Valencia, BostonGlobe.com, "Boston Winter is canceled amid plans to renovate City Hall Plaza," 3 July 2018 Through the winter and early spring, Eagan cross-checked the names of children withdrawn for home schooling in six school districts with child-protection records of the Department of Children and Families. — Josh Kovner, courant.com, "Child Advocate Expands Probe Into Use Of Home Schooling By Parents Suspected Of Abuse, Neglect," 6 June 2018 Froome has kept a low profile through the winter and early part of the season. — Joshua Robinson, WSJ, "Cycling Star Chris Froome Is Racing in the Giro d’Italia, and It’s Awkward," 3 May 2018 The airport built a public plaza modeled after Munich’s airport that has a free pop-up skating rink in the winter and a free 18-hole minigolf course in the summer. — Scott Mccartney, WSJ, "Denver: The WSJ Airport Rankings’ Rocky Mountain High-Scorer," 14 Nov. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Along with being able to use your fave shade of Match Stix everywhere, Priscilla has shared how to use highlighter with your lipstick, and the surprising way that facial oils can help winter skin glow. — Lauren Rearick, Teen Vogue, "Prisiclla Ono Shared How to Use Fenty Beauty’s Match Stix to Create an Entire Look," 5 Dec. 2018 Known For: Hollywood stars like Bob Hope began wintering in this desert town in the shadow of Mount San Jacinto in the 1930s. — Kelly Crow, WSJ, "America’s Art Scenes Off the Beaten Track," 15 Sep. 2018 From its wintering grounds in Africa, the bird flies thousands of miles north to Europe to lay eggs in time for the emergence of winter moth caterpillars, which appear for a few weeks each spring to munch on young oak leaves. — Author: Livia Albeck Ripka, Brad Plumer, Anchorage Daily News, "5 plants and animals utterly confused by climate change," 10 Apr. 2018 Sabine Ranch holds some of Texas’ best remaining nesting/brood rearing habitat for mottled ducks, and its wetlands and prairie attract some of the densest concentrations of wintering waterfowl found on the upper Texas coast. — Shannon Tompkins, Houston Chronicle, "Major additions in the works for Texas’ public lands," 22 Apr. 2018 After her retirement and raising their children Nancy and Herb spent many wonderful years wintering in Delray Beach Florida with special friends Nate and Elsie. — Hartford Courant, courant.com, "Nancy B. Coman," 11 June 2018 As for its regular feathered inhabitants, the Coastside is blessed with migratory shorebirds, an abundance of gulls, breeding warblers, wintering sparrows, and a richness of raptors. — Jill K. Robinson, SFChronicle.com, "5 places to spot birds in Half Moon Bay," 12 July 2018 Streams of them funnel through the country’s southern tip, traveling to and from wintering grounds in Africa and nesting grounds in Europe. — Asher Elbein, New York Times, "Some Birds Are Better Off With Weak Immune Systems," 25 June 2018 Ocampo is a rural township about 95 miles (150 kilometers) west of Mexico City best known for the Monarch butterfly wintering grounds that occupy part of the mountainous municipality. — Mark Stevenson, Fox News, "2 mayoral candidates killed in Mexico, 18 dead so far," 21 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Winter visitors can catch a glimpse of the refuge’s migrating tundra swans. — Danielle Ohl, baltimoresun.com, "Weekend adventure: A visitor's guide to Rock Hall and its old-school, waterfront charms," 3 Aug. 2017 Gigi appears in Stuart Weitzman's Fall/Winter 2017 campaign in the sleekest boots (including The Cling Bootie), bright pink blush, and a Shay Ashual wig that totally fooled us at first glance. — Sarah Wu, Allure, "Gigi Hadid Debuts Short Hair for Stuart Weitzman Campaign," 12 July 2017 Gigi appeared in Stuart Weitzman's Fall/Winter 2017 campaign in the sleekest boots (including The Cling Bootie), bright pink blush, and a Shay Ashual wig that totally fooled us at first glance. — Sarah Wu, Teen Vogue, "Gigi Hadid Debuts Short Hair for Stuart Weitzman Campaign," 12 July 2017 In The Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes is turned into a weapon with no agency of his own. — Jenna Pearl, Marie Claire, "9 Hidden Feminist Messages in the Marvel Cinematic Universe," 5 June 2017 Winter Carnival events for Feb. 3 and 4 will be announced later. — Kathy Berdan, Twin Cities, "Eyeing Super Bowl, St. Paul supersizes Winter Carnival to 17 days," 25 May 2017 Winter wheat and barley now lag about a week in development, compared to the last several years, according to Liza Malyshko, an analyst at UkrAgroConsult in Kiev. — Anatoly Medetsky, Bloomberg.com, "Chilly Weather Risks Delaying Black Sea Wheat, Barley Harvest," 23 May 2017 Winter color is maroon, with red tones across the green leaves in summer. — Neil Sperry, star-telegram, "Plan(t) on these top 10 best groundcover choices," 16 May 2017 Winter storm warnings are even posted in Northeastern Washington. — Paul P. Murphy, CNN, "Storm rejects springtime, dumps snow in Pacific Northwest," 16 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'winter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.