sleet

sleet
/sleet/, n.
1. precipitation in the form of ice pellets created by the freezing of rain as it falls (distinguished from hail).
2. glaze (def. 17).
3. Chiefly Brit. a mixture of rain and snow.
v.i.
4. to send down sleet.
5. to fall as or like sleet.
[1250-1300; (n.) ME slete; akin to LG slote, G Schlossen hail; (v.) ME sleten, deriv. of the n.]

* * *

      globular, generally transparent ice pellets that have diameters of 5 mm (0.2 inch) or less and that form as a result of the freezing of raindrops or the freezing of mostly melted snowflakes. Larger particles are called hailstones (see hail). Sleet may occur when a warm layer of air lies above a below-freezing layer of air at the Earth's surface. In Great Britain and in some parts of the United States, a mixture of rain and snow is called sleet, and the term has sometimes been used to identify the clear ice on objects that is more correctly known as glaze.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • sleet|y — «SLEE tee», adjective, sleet|i|er, sleet|i|est. 1. of or like sleet: »sleety showers. 2. characterized by sleet: »a dismal and sleety morning. The weather was cold, w …   Useful english dictionary

  • Sleet — Sleet, n. [OE. sleet; akin to MHG. sl?z, sl?ze hailstone, G. schlosse; of uncertain origin.] Hail or snow, mingled with rain, usually falling, or driven by the wind, in fine particles. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • sleet — [sli:t] n [U] half frozen rain that falls when it is very cold ▪ scattered sleet and snow showers >sleet v ▪ It was sleeting so hard we could barely see for 30 yards. >sleety[i] adj …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • sleet — ► NOUN 1) rain containing some ice, or snow melting as it falls. 2) US a thin coating of ice formed by sleet or rain freezing on coming into contact with a cold surface. ► VERB (it sleets, it is sleeting, etc.) ▪ sleet falls. DERIVATIVES sleety …   English terms dictionary

  • Sleet — Sleet, n. (Gun.) The part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Sleet — Sleet, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Sleeted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sleeting}.] To snow or hail with a mixture of rain. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • sleet — (n.) c.1300, slete, either from an unrecorded Old English word or via M.H.G. sloz, M.L.G. sloten (pl.) hail, from P.Gmc. *slautjan (Cf. dial. Norw. slutr, Dan. slud, Swed. sloud sleet ), from root *slaut . The verb is attested from early 14c.… …   Etymology dictionary

  • sleet — [slēt] n. [ME slete < OE * sliete, akin to Ger schlosse, hail < IE base * (s)leu , loose, lax > SLUR, SLUG1] 1. partly frozen rain, or rain that freezes as it falls 2. transparent or translucent precipitation in the form of pellets of… …   English World dictionary

  • Sleet — may refer to:*A mixture of snow and rain (particularly in countries where British English is spoken) *Ice pellets (mainly within the United States and Canada) …   Wikipedia

  • Sleet — Donald Don Sleet (* 27. November 1938 in Fort Wayne, Indiana; † 31. Dezember 1986) war ein US amerikanischer Jazz Trompeter. Sleet arbeitete in den 1950er und 1960er Jahren in Kalifornien, u.a mit Howard Rumseys Lighthouse All Stars, der Stan… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”