blizzard

CEFRB2

/ˈblɪz.əːd/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A severe snowstorm with strong winds.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A large amount of paperwork.

Examples

  • I feel a chill seeing the blizzard outside.

  • We found it very hard going back to our base camp in the blizzard.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
1
Synonyms
3

Also pronounced

  • [ˈbl̥ɪz.ɚd] ~ [ˈbl̥ɪz.ɹ̩d]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A large number of similar things; especially, such a group arriving as an inundation, thick and fast.

  2. A large snowstorm accompanied by strong winds and greatly reduced visibility caused by blowing snow.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To fall in windy conditions.

More examples

In context

  • a blizzard of political ads

  • Near-synonyms: flood, inundation, torrent

  • Risk is everywhere.[…]For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. “The Norm Chronicles”[…]aims to help data-phobes find their way through this blizzard of risks.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The school closed early when a severe blank dumped two feet of snow.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Unknown, with various theories as below. Compare English blizz (“violent rainstorm”), dialectal English bliz (“violent blow”); one etymology, from Midlands English dialect, seems to be ultimately from Old English blysa (“blaze”). Etymology theories * The earliest written use of blizzard as a term to describe a severe snowstorm, spelled blizard, was in the Estherville, Iowa's Northern Vindicator on 23 April 1870. O.C. Bates, neologistic editor of the Northern Vindicator, used it for the terrific snowstorms in the state that spring. He claimed he had picked up the term from locals characterizing a "Lightning Ellis", on account of his violent outbursts. One week later it appeared again in the...