Word
sleet
US/ˈsɫit/
UK/slˈiːt/
Definitions
01frozen rain or ice pellets
n. a mixture of rain and snow, or small pellets of ice that fall from the sky.
n. precipitation consisting of ice pellets or a mixture of rain and snow. In British English, it typically refers to rain and snow together; in American English, it often refers to ice pellets.
“The rain turned to sleet as the temperature dropped, making the roads very slippery.”
“The drive home was treacherous as the light rain transitioned into heavy sleet, significantly reducing visibility and traction on the motorway.”
Synonyms
02weather condition
v. when sleet is falling from the sky.
v. to fall as sleet. Used as an impersonal verb, typically with the dummy subject 'it'.
“It started to sleet just as we left the house, so we went back for our heavy coats.”
“Although the forecast predicted snow, it merely sleeted for most of the afternoon, leaving a slushy mess on the pavements.”
Usage
Usually used with 'it' as the subject (e.g., 'It is sleeting').
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related words
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englishreference.com/q/sleet