Meanings
plural cold snaps
- idiomaticA short and sudden period of cold weather.
A recent cold snap damaged citrus crops.
1 more example
On the day that RAIL meets Mick Whelan, it's during a particularly chilly cold snap. A story has broken in the national press about train drivers refusing to walk to their cabs at Edge Hill depot, because the paths to the trains have not been cleared of snow.
2025 March 5, Richard Wilcock, “In defence of the train drivers”, in RAIL, number 1030, page 30Synonyms: cold wave, cold spell
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA short and sudden period of cold weather.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Catalan ona de fred
- ona de fredperiod of cold weather
Chinese Mandarin 寒流
- 寒流 (hánliú)period of cold weather
Dutch koudegolf
- koudegolfperiod of cold weather
Finnish pakkasjakso, takatalvi
- pakkasjaksoperiod of cold weather
- takatalviperiod of cold weather
- kylmäaaltoperiod of cold weather
French coup de froid, vague de froid
- coup de froidperiod of cold weather
- vague de froidperiod of cold weather
German Kälteeinbruch, Kältewelle
- Kälteeinbruchperiod of cold weather
- Kältewelleperiod of cold weather
Irish tréimhse fhuar
- tréimhse fhuarperiod of cold weather
Polish fala chłodnego powietrza
- fala chłodnego powietrzaperiod of cold weather
Russian за́морозок
- за́морозок (zámorozok)period of cold weather
Spanish ola de frío
- ola de fríoperiod of cold weather
Swedish köldknäpp
- köldknäppperiod of cold weather
Cite this entry
cold snap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cold%20snap
“cold snap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cold%20snap. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cold snap,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cold%20snap.
Source: cold snap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.