besnow

B3E1S1N1O1W4

verb

To snow on; to cover with snow, or as if with snow.

OriginMiddle English besnewen ← Old English besnīwian →
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Meanings

verbbesnow (third-person singular simple present besnows, present participle besnowing, simple past and past participle besnowed)

present singular third person besnows · participle present besnowing · participle past besnowed · past besnowed · alternative besnew

  1. transitiveTo snow on; to cover with snow, or as if with snow.
  2. transitiveTo scatter like snow.
  3. transitiveTo whiten with snow, or as with snow.

    Virgins of equall birth, [...] / Shall draw thy picture, and record thy life; / One ſhall enſphere thine eyes, another ſhall / Impearl thy teeth[,] a third thy white and ſmall / Hand ſhall beſnow, a fourth incarnadine / Thy roſie cheek, [...]

    1640 (first publication), Thomas Carew, “Obsequies to the Lady Anne Hay”, in Poems, with a Maske, […], 3rd edition, London: […] H[umphrey] M[oseley] and are to be sold by J[ohn] Martin, […], published 1651, →OCLC, page 91

Origin

  1. Old Englishbesnīwian“to cover with snow”
  2. Middle Englishbesnewen
  3. Englishbesnow

From Middle English besnewen, from Old English besnīwian (“to cover with snow”); equivalent to be- + snow. Cognate with Dutch besneeuwen (“to snow, snow in”), German beschneien (“to cover with snow”).

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with besnow

todonosogoknowshowolowbelowcoproagothoughohalthoughflowpojoemosnowhellorowgrow
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

besnow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/besnow

MLA

“besnow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/besnow. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “besnow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/besnow.

Source: besnow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.