sleet
/sliːt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.83 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Pellets of ice made of mostly-frozen raindrops or refrozen melted snowflakes.
American usage; Countable; Uncountable
noun
Precipitation in the form of a mixture of rain and snow.
British usage; American usage; Countable; Uncountable
noun
A smooth coating of ice formed on ground or other objects by freezing rain.
Countable; Uncountable
verb
To be in a state in which sleet is falling.
Example Sentences
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: slete, *slēte, *slautijā, *slautijǭ, slydda
Usage
- American usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- British usage