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Synonyms

cold snap

American  

noun

  1. a sudden onset of a relatively brief period of cold weather.

cold snap British  

noun

  1. a sudden short spell of cold weather

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
cold snap Idioms  

  1. Also, cold spell. A short period of unusually cold weather, as in The recent cold snap has threatened the crop. The first expression presumably likens snap in the sense of “a sudden bite or cut” to sudden unexpected cold. The variant is more obvious, spell having been used in the sense of “a bout or turn at something” since the early 1700s. [Early 1800s]

Etymology

Origin of cold snap

An Americanism dating back to 1770–80

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He has already contended with two major snowstorms and a cold snap in which 19 people died from exposure.

From The Wall Street Journal

In this analogy, troughs are associated with lower pressure and cooler, wetter weather, while ridges are linked to higher pressure and warmer, drier conditions — helping explain why cold snaps and warm spells often alternate.

From Los Angeles Times

The latest numbers showing steep increases also don’t capture February’s cold snap across large parts of the country.

From MarketWatch

The planet experienced its fifth-hottest January on record despite a cold snap that swept across the United States and Europe, the EU's climate monitor said Tuesday.

From Barron's

As a winter cold snap grips Germany, Berliners have been slip-sliding on ice-covered footpaths, driving a heated debate on whether the capital should use environmentally damaging salt to melt away the hazard.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.