Idiom idiom
rafter snapper
Meaning
A very cold night.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“It is a real rafter snapper tonight.”
“We need to bring the plants inside because it is going to be a rafter snapper.”
“The old farmhouse groaned under the pressure of the wind during what proved to be a genuine rafter snapper of a night.”
Origin
The term originates in the state of Maine, where the wooden planks and beams of residential dwellings contract during periods of extreme cold. On such nights, the structural timber produces distinct snapping sounds, a terrestrial phenomenon the inhabitants of Maine eventually condensed into the idiom.
Anchors to
Last updated August 10, 2026