# winter

Pronunciation: US say "WIN-tur" /ˈwɪntɚ/; UK say "WIN-tuh" /ˈwɪntə/

## Noun

1. The fourth and coldest season of the year, with the shortest days, usually reckoned as December–February in the north and June–August in the south, or as running from the winter solstice to the spring equinox.
   - Simple: The coldest season of the year, when days are short and the weather is cold.
   - _The town's population shrinks every winter as residents flee the cold._
   - _By late winter, the reservoir had frozen solid near its edges._
4. A time of decay, old age, or death, especially as the closing stage of a life or era. *(literary)*
   - Simple: A time of old age or decline, when a life, a friendship or a period is coming to an end.
   - _The aging emperor felt the winter of his reign drawing near._
   - _Their friendship had entered its winter, cold and slowly fading._

## Verb

2. To pass the winter living or staying in a particular place.
   - Simple: To stay somewhere through the cold months of the year.
   - _Thousands of geese winter along the estuary before heading north again._
   - _The retired couple chose to winter in Arizona to escape the snow._
3. To keep animals or plants in a sheltered place through the winter to protect them from the cold.
   - Simple: To keep animals or plants somewhere safe and warm through the cold season.
   - _Growers often winter delicate plants indoors to shield them from frost._
   - _She winters the tender shrubs in a greenhouse until spring._

## Noun

5. The rainy season of the year. *(archaic, India)*
   - Simple: The wet, rainy time of the year in some warm parts of the world.
6. A device fixed to the front of a fireplace grate to keep a kettle or similar vessel warm. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A metal stand placed at the front of a fire to keep a kettle warm.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In seasonal color analysis, a person with cool, high-contrast coloring, typically dark hair and eyes, regarded as best suited to clear, cool, bold colors.

## Origin

From Middle English "winter," from Old English "winter," going back through Proto-West Germanic *wintru to Proto-Germanic *wintruz ("winter"). It is related to Dutch "winter," German "Winter," the Scandinavian "vinter," and Icelandic "vetur."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/winter (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).