Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The state of the atmosphere at a given time and place, with respect to variables such as temperature, moisture, wind velocity, and barometric pressure.
- noun Adverse or destructive atmospheric conditions, such as high winds or heavy rain.
- noun The unpleasant or destructive effects of such atmospheric conditions.
- noun Changes of fortune.
- intransitive verb To expose to the action of the elements, as for drying, seasoning, or coloring.
- intransitive verb To discolor, disintegrate, wear, or otherwise affect adversely by exposure.
- intransitive verb To come through (something) safely; survive.
- intransitive verb To slope (a roof, for example) so as to shed water.
- intransitive verb Nautical To pass to the windward of despite bad weather.
- intransitive verb To show the effects, such as discoloration, of exposure to the elements.
- intransitive verb To withstand the effects of weather.
- adjective Nautical Of or relating to the windward side of a ship; windward.
- adjective Relating to or used in weather forecasting.
- idiom (make heavy weather of) To exaggerate the difficulty of something to be done.
- idiom (under the weather) Somewhat indisposed; slightly ill.
- idiom (under the weather) Intoxicated; drunk.
- idiom (under the weather) Suffering from a hangover.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To air; expose to the air; dry or otherwise affect by exposure to the open air.
- To affect injuriously by the action of weather; in geology, to discolor or disintegrate: as, the atmospheric agencies that weather rocks.
- In tile manufacturing, to expose (the clay) to a hot sun or to frost, in order to open the pores and separate the particles, that it may readily absorb water and be easily worked.
- To slope (a surface), that it may shed water.
- Nautical:
- To sail to windward of: as, to
weather a point or cape. - To bear up against and come safely through: said of a ship in a storm, as also of a mariner; hence, used in the same sense with reference to storms on land.
- Figuratively, to bear up against and overcome, as trouble or danger; come out of, as a trial, without permanent damage or loss.
- To suffer a change, such as discoloration or more or less complete disintegration, in consequence of exposure to the weather or atmosphere. See
weathering , 2. - To resist or bear exposure to the weather.
- noun Wind; storm; tempest.
- noun Cold and wet.
- noun A light rain; a shower.
- noun The state of the air or atmosphere with respect to its cloudiness, humidity, motions, pressure, temperature, electrical condition, or any other meteorological phenomena; the atmospheric conditions prevailing at any moment over any region of the earth: as, warm or cold weather; wet or dry weather; calm or stormy weather; fair or foul weather; cloudy or hazy weather.
- noun Specifically, in weather-maps and -reports, the condition of the sky as to cloudiness and the occurrence of precipitation.
- noun Change of the state of the atmosphere; meteorological change; hence, figuratively, vicissitude; change of fortune or condition.
- noun The inclination or obliquity of the sails of a windmill to the plane of revolution.
- noun An enervating atmosphere.
- Nautical, toward the wind; windward: opposed to lee: as, weather bow; weather beam; weather rigging
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To expose to the air; to air; to season by exposure to air.
- transitive verb Hence, to sustain the trying effect of; to bear up against and overcome; to sustain; to endure; to resist.
- transitive verb (Naut.) To sail or pass to the windward of.
- transitive verb (Falconry) To place (a hawk) unhooded in the open air.
- transitive verb (Naut.) Hence, to gain or accomplish anything against opposition.
- transitive verb to encounter successfully, though with difficulty.
- adjective (Naut.) Being toward the wind, or windward -- opposed to
lee . - adjective (Naut.) Fig.: A position of advantage or superiority; advantage in position.
- adjective (Naut.) a tendency on the part of a sailing vessel to come up into the wind, rendering it necessary to put the helm up, that is, toward the weather side.
- adjective (Naut.) the shore to the windward of a ship.
- adjective (Naut.) the tide which sets against the lee side of a ship, impelling her to the windward.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word weather.
Examples
-
"Not often: if it is to be done in warm weather, I smoke them well before I begin; _in very cold weather_ is the best time, then it is unnecessary; simply turn the hive bottom up, mark off the proper size, and with a sharp saw take it off without trouble."
-
: Check out @weather to get the latest weather news.
doggdot.us 2009
-
When clouds settle on the tops of mountains, they indicate hard weather; and when the tops of mountains are clear, it is a sign of fair weather*
The Complete Weather Guide: A Collection of Practical Observations for Prognosticating the ... Joseph Taylor, John Claridge 1812
-
The term weather refers to the short term changes in the physical characteristics of the troposphere.
-
Right now, the weather is superatmospheric and therefore, in a sense, supermeteorological (can you really call it weather?)
Directions kisobel 2003
-
When we remind our young readers that the thermometer in England seldom falls so low as zero, except in what we term weather of the utmost severity, they may imagine -- or, rather, they may try to imagine -- what 75 degrees _below_ zero must have been.
The World of Ice 1859
-
When we remind our young readers that the thermometer in England seldom falls so low as zero, except in what we term weather of the utmost severity, they may imagine -- or rather, they may try to imagine -- what 75° _below_ zero must have been.
The World of Ice 1859
-
"Climate encompasses the temperatures, humidity, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological factors in a given region over long periods of time, as opposed to the term weather, which refers to current activity."
-
Yup, I can hear the echoes of it now, underneath the sounds of a squadron of pigs flying: "Uh, don't assume that many people will come out and buy tickets, you know the weather is always dicey in Portland until July."
-
Of course it helps that the weather is almost always sunny and dry and there is ample public parking nearby.
oroboros commented on the word weather
Contronymic in the sense: erode vs. persevere ("weather the storm").
January 31, 2007
oroboros commented on the word weather
The Enlightened have but one master: The weather...
--Jan Cox
October 14, 2007
alexhuang commented on the word weather
when it comes to verb, weather means to withstand
August 31, 2013