Meanings
- not comparablePrevented from moving or traveling due to snow or snowy weather.
When a passenger or freight train is snowbound, any train crew or passengers must first be rescued and taken to the nearest station. This task is usually done by local trackmen.
1960 January 28, M. Harbottle, “Maintaining Services after Heavy Snowfalls”, in Railway Magazine, page 12 - not comparableOf a location or other destination, inaccessible due to being covered in snow.
Synonyms: snowed in, storm-stayed
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf a location or other destination, inaccessible due to being covered in snow.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveconfined or shut in by heavy snow
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*sneygʷʰ-
- Proto-Indo-European*snóygʷʰos
- Proto-Germanic*snaiwaz
- Proto-West Germanic*snaiw
- Old Englishsnāw
- Middle Englishsnow
- Englishsnow
- Old Norsebúinn
- Middle Englishbownde
- Englishbound
- Englishsnowbound
Cite this entry
snowbound. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snowbound
“snowbound.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snowbound. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “snowbound,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snowbound.
Source: snowbound on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.