snowlike 
snowlike (sno'lik), a. [< *o-i + KA-c2.] Re- 
sembling snow. 
snow-limbed (sno'limd), o. Having limbs 
white like snow. [Rare.] 
The siiow-limb'd Eve from whom she came. 
Tennyson, llaud, xviii. 3. 
snow-line (sno'lin), n. The limit of continual 
suow, or the line above which a mountain is 
continually covered with snow. The snow-line is 
due primarily to the decrease of the temperature of the 
atmosphere with increase of altitude. Jn general, the 
height of the snow-line diminishes as we proceed from the 
equator toward the poles : but there are many exceptions, 
since the position of the snow-line depends not only upon 
the mean temperature, but upon the extreme heat of sum- 
mer, the total annual snowfall, the prevalent winds, the 
topography, etc. For these reasons, the mow-One is not 
only at different heights in the same latitude, but its posi- 
tion is subject to oscillation from year to year in the same 
locality. Long secular oscillations in the height of the 
snow-line are evidence of corresponding oscillations of 
climate. In the Alps the snow-line is at an altitude of 
8.0CO to 9,000 feet ; in the Andes, at the equator, it is 
nearly 16,000 feet 
Between the glacier below the ice-fall and the plateau 
above it there must exist a line where the quantity of snow 
which falls is exactly equal to the quantity annually melt- 
ed. This is the mow-line. 
Tyndall, Forms of Water, p. 48. 
snow-mouse (sno'mous), n. 1. An alpine vole 
or field-mouse, Arcicola nivalis, inhabiting the 
Alps and Pyrenees. 2. A lemming of arctic 
America which turns white in winter, Cunicu- 
lus torquatus. See Cuniculus, 2. 
snow-on-the-mountain ( sno ' on - the - moun '- 
tan), n. 1. A white-flowered garden-plant, Ara- 
bia alpina, from southern Russia; also, Ceras- 
tium tomentosum, from eastern Europe. Britten 
and Holland, Eng. Plant Names, f Prov. Eng.] 
2. A plant, Euphorbia marginata. T, Mee- 
han. Native Wild Flowers of the United States. 
[Western U. S.] 
snow-owl (sno'oul), n. The gieat white or 
snowy owl, Strix nyctea or Nyctea scandiaca, in- 
5736 
front, and spread out behind to any required distance. 
The machine being drawn by horses harnessed to the 
center framework, the angular point enters the snow, 
"/ .' 
Wing Snow-plow. 
a, body of plow ; 6, caboose for implements and workmen ; f, mova- 
ble wings for widening the cuttings; c'. doors which give access to 
leading truck for oiling, etc.; d, cupola ; e, headlight ; f, f, iron plates, 
scrapers, or shoes which remove snow from the outer margins of the 
track ; /",/", adjustable aprons which clean out the snow from between 
the tracks flush with the wheel-flanges; g, Intonnedlatc apron; It, 
draw-bar lor hauling the plow when not in use ; r, adjustable scraper 
for removing hard-packed snow or ice from the inner side of the rails. 
which is thrown off by the side-boards, and thus a free 
passage is opened for pedestrians, etc. 1'or railway pur- 
poses, snow-plows are of various forms, adapted to the 
Snow-owl (<\yctea scandiaca}. 
habiting arctic and northerly regions of both 
hemispheres, and having the plumage more or 
less white. See Nyctea, and cut under braccate. 
snow-partridge (sno'par'-'trij), n. 1. A galli- 
naceous bird of the Himalayan region, Lena 
(or Lerwa) nivicola. See cut under Lerva. 2. 
A bird of the genus Tetraogallus, as T. hima- 
layensis. Also called snow-cock, snoic-chukor, 
and snow-pheasant. See choitrtka, partridge, 
and cut under TetraogaHus. 3. A ptarmigan: 
same as snow-grouse, 
snow-pear (sno'par), u. See pear 1 . 
snow-pheasant (sno'fez"ant), . 1 . Any pheas- 
ant or the genus Crossopfilon, as C. mantchiiri- 
cum. See eared pheasant, under pheasant. 2. 
Same as snow-partridge, 2. 
snow-pigeon (sno'pij'on), n. A notable true 
pigeon, Columba leuconota, of the northwestern 
Himalayan region, known to some sportsmen 
as the imperial rock-pigeon, and found at an 
altitude of 10,000 feet and upward. The upper 
parts are mostly white, the crown and auriculars blackish 
the wmas brownish-gray with several dusky bars, and the 
tail is ashy-black with a broad grayish-white bar. 
snow-planer (sn6'pla"ner), n. See, planer. 
snow-plant (sno'plant), n. 1. Bed snow. See 
Protococcus.2. See Sarcodes. 
snow-plow (sno'plou), n. An implement for 
clearing away snow from roads, railways, etc 
I here are two kinds -one to be Jiauled by horses oxen 
etc., as on a common highway, and the other to be placed 
3 JKS. ,1 a . loc mo 'o clear the rails. A modification 
of the latter is adapted to street-railroads. The snow-plow 
ZLZFSSL "ntry roads usually consists of a frame of 
boards braced together so as to form an acute angle in 
" Centrifugal Snow-plow. 
a, caboose ; t>, cab ; c , tender ; d, shoe, plate, or scraper which cuts 
horizontally at a level with the tops of the rails ; t, auger which cuts 
into the snow-diift, and assists by its screw-like action to propel the 
machine [its centrifugal action projects the snow upward through the 
chute f, and laterally to a distance of 60 feet). 
character of the country, the amount of snowfall, the 
tendency to drift, etc. Such plows vary in size from the 
simple plows carried on the front of an engine, resem- 
bling a cowcatcher with smooth iron sides, to heavy struc- 
tures mounted on freight-car trucks, and pushed before 
one locomotive or more, or, as sometimes made, self-pro- 
pelling. In recent forms the principle of centrifugal force 
has been utilized for removal of the snow. Snow-plows 
are often of great size, sometimes weighing fifty tons, 
and can be forced through very deep drifts. 
snow-probe (sno'prob), n. An instrument used 
by the Eskimos to probe snow and ice in search- 
ing for seals. 
snow-scraper (sno'skra'per), )i. 1. A form of 
snow-plow made of two small planks and a 
crosspiece, like the letter A. 2. An iron 
scraper attached to a car or locomotive, to re- 
move snow and ice from the rails. 3. Same 
as snow-knife. 
snow-shed (sno'shed), n. On a railroad, a con- 
struction covering the track to prevent accu- 
mulations of snow on the line, or to carry snow- 
slides or avalanches over the track in moun- 
tainous regions. 
Snow-shoe (sno'shS), H. A contrivance attached 
to the foot to enable 
the wearer to walk on 
deep snow without 
sinking to the extent of 
being disabled. There 
are two principal kinds 
the web or Canadian, 
and the long or Norwegian. 
The Canadian is a contract- 
ed oval in front and pointed 
behind, and is from 3 to 5 
feet long and from 1 to 2 
feet wide, the foot being 
fastened on the widest 
part of the shoe by means 
of thongs and so as to leave 
the heel free. It has a light 
rim of tough wood, on which 
is woven from side to side a 
web of rawhide. The Nor- 
wegian is merely a thin 
board, about 8 feet long 
and 3 inches wide, slightly 
curved upward in front; 
it is especially adapted to 
mountains, in descending 
Ss h a ! ffid t8U s1e g r 8Pee<l Canadiansnow-shoe. 
O'er the heaped drifts of winter's moon 
Her snow-shoes tracked the hunter's way. 
Whittier, Bridal of Pennacook, iii. 
Snow-shoe disease, a painful affection of the feet oc- 
curring in arctic and subarctic America after long jour- 
neys on snow-shoes. Snow-shoe rabbit. See rabbit>. 
snow-shoe (sno'sho), v. i. [< snow-shoe, n.] To 
walk on snow-shoes. 
You can mow-shoe anywhere, even up to some chimney- 
tops. Harper's Hag., LXXVI. S5S. 
Kink-skating is a fine art in Canada, tobogganing is an 
accomplishment ; but sleighing and mow-shoeing, though 
often pastimes, are also normal methods of locomotion 
during the long winter. 
Sir C. W. DUke, Probs. of Greater Britain, 1. 2. 
snow-shoer (sn6'sh6"er), n. [< snow-shoe + 
-er 1 .] One who walks on snow-shoes. 
snub 
The manly xnow-slwer hungers for the tramp on snow- 
shoes. The Century, XXIX. 622. 
snow-shovel (sno'shuv"!), n. A flat, broad 
wooden shovel made for shoveling snow. 
snow-skate (sno'skat), n. In northern Europe, 
a contrivance for gliding rapidly over frozen or 
compact snow. It is usually a long, narrow sole of 
wood, 6 feet or more in length. See snow-shoe. 
He put on his mowdcates and started, and I set about 
turning the delay to profit by making acquaintance with 
the inmates of the tents. 
B. Taylor, Northern Travel, p. 120. 
snow-slide (sno'slid), . An avalanche; also, 
any mass of snow sliding down sin incline, as a 
roof. 
The terms "ground" and "dust" avalanches are ap- 
plied to different varieties of snow slips or slides. 
D. O. Elliot, in Wolf's Wild Animals, p. 118. 
snow-slip (suo'slip), n. A snow-slide. 
snow-snake (sno'snak), n. Among North 
American Indians, a slender shaft from 5 to 9 
feet long, with a head curving up at one end 
and a notch at the other and smaller end ; also, 
the game played with this shaft. 
The game is simply one of dexterity and strength. The 
forefinger is placed in the basal notch, the thumb and re- 
maining fingers leaching along the shaft, and the mow- 
snake is thrown forward on the ice or hard snow. . . . 
When the slender shaft is thrown, it glides rapidly over 
the surface, with upraised head and a quivering motion, 
that gives it a strange resemblance to a living creature. 
. . . The game is to see which person or side can throw 
it farthest, and sometimes the distance of a quarter of a 
mile is reached under favorable circumstances, but I think 
this rare. W. M. Bcauchamp, Science, XI. 87. 
Snow-sparrow (sno'spar'o), n. Any snowbird 
of the genus Junco. Cones. 
snow-squall (sno'skwal), n. A short fall of 
snow with a high wind. 
Almost completely thwarted by snow-squalls. 
Nature, XXXVII. GS3. 
snow-storm (sno'stdrm), n. A storm with a 
fall of snow. 
snow-sweeper (sno'swe"per), n. A snow-plow 
combined with a street-sweeping machine for 
clearing snow from a horse-car track. 
snow-track (sno'trak), n. 1. The footprints 
or track of a person or an animal going through 
snow. 2. A path or passage made through 
snow for persons coming and going. 
snow-water (sno'wa'ter), n. [< ME. snaw- 
water; < snow^ + water.] Melted snow. 
The ter thet mon schet for his emcristenes sunne is 
inemned snow-water for hit melt of the neche horte swa 
deth the snaw to-jeines the sunne. 
Old Eng. Horn. (ed. Morris, E. E. T. 8.), 1st ser., p. 159. 
snow-white (sno'hwit), a. [< ME. snow-whyt, 
snaw-hwit, snau-whit, snowhwit, AS. sndwhwit 
(= D. snceuwwit =. MLG. snewhit = MHG. sne- 
wiz, Or. schneeweiss = Icel. snxhvitr, styohvitr = 
Sw. snohvit = Dan. snchvid), as snaw, snow, + 
hwit, white : see snoic 1 and white.'] White as 
snow ; very white. 
And than hir sette 
Upon an hors, siuiw-whyt and wel ambling. 
Chaiuxr, Clerk's Tale, 1. 332. 
Why are you sequester'd from all your train, 
Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed ? 
Shale., Tit And., 1L 3. 76. 
snow-wreath (sno'reth), n. A snow-drift. 
[Scotch.] 
Was that the same Tarn Linton that was precipitated 
from the Ban Law by the break of a snaw wreathe > 
Klaclcu-ood's Mag., XIII. 320. 
snowy (sno'i), a. [< ME. snawy, snawi (not in 
AS_.) (= MLO. sneig = OHG. snewtic, MHG. 
snewec, G. sclmeeig = Icel. snteuyr = Sw. snogig, 
sndig = Da,n. sneig); (snowl + -)/!.] 1. Abound- 
ing with snow ; covered with snow. 
The snowy top 
Of cold Olympus. Milton, P. L., i. 515. 
2. White like snow ; niveous. 
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, 
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows. 
Shok., B. and J., i. 5. 50. 
3. White; pure; spotless; unblemished.- Snowy 
heron, the small white egret of the United States, Gar- 
aetta caiididissima, when adult entirely pure-white with 
recurved occipital crest and dorsal plumes. See cut un- 
der Oarzetta. Snowy lemming, the collared or Hudson's 
Bay lemming, or hare-tailed rat. See snow-mouse, 2, and 
Cuniculia, 2. Snowy owl, the snow-owl. Snowy pear. 
See pearl. Snowy plover, .-Kyialites nivosus, a small 
ring-plover of the Pacific and Mexican Gulf coasts of the 
United States, related to the Kentish plover. 
snub 1 (snub), v. t.; pret. and pp. snubbed, ppr. 
snubbing. [< ME. smibbeii, snuben, < Icel. snnb- 
ba. snub, chide, = Sw. snnbba, clip or snub 
off, snobba, lop off, snuff (a candle) ; cf. Icel. 
snubbotr, snubbed, nipped, with the tip cut off, 
snupra, snub, chide ; akin to E. snip. Cf. snib, 
a var. of snub.] If. To cut off short; nip; 
check in growth ; stunt. 
