Definition of SLEET

sleet

Meanings

Plural: sleets

Noun

  • partially melted snow (or a mixture of rain and snow)
  • Pellets of ice made of mostly-frozen raindrops or refrozen melted snowflakes.
  • Precipitation in the form of a mixture of rain and snow.
  • A smooth coating of ice formed on ground or other objects by freezing rain.
  • The part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions.

Verb

  • precipitate as a mixture of rain and snow
    • "If the temperature rises above freezing, it will probably sleet"
  • To be in a state in which sleet is falling.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English slete, probably from Old English *slēte, *slȳte, *slīete, from Proto-West Germanic *slautijā, from Proto-Germanic *slautijǭ (“sleet”). Walter W. Skeat, the author of Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, suggests Old Norse slydda (whence Danish slud (“mixture of rain and snow”)). The word appears to be akin to Low German Sloot (“hail”), dialectal German Schloße (“large hailstone”), Old Gutnish sloyta (“slush, sleet”). Doublet of slut.

Synonyms

black ice, glaze, ice pellets

Scrabble Score: 5

sleet is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
sleet is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
sleet is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 6

sleet is a valid Words With Friends word