/sliːt/
OriginFrom 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.
- US, countable, uncountablePellets of ice made of mostly-frozen raindrops or refrozen melted snowflakes.
- Ireland, Northeastern, UK, US, countablePrecipitation in the form of a mixture of rain and snow.
“Though it never really snows it’s more like horizontal sleet”
- countable, rare, uncountableA smooth coating of ice formed on ground or other objects by freezing rain.
- countable, uncountableThe part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions.
- impersonalTo be in a state in which sleet is falling.
“I won't bother going out until it's stopped sleeting.”
“It was dark, it was cold, it was sleeting - dreadful conditions for driving... perfect conditions for an accident.”
Formssleets(plural) · sleets(present, singular, third-person) · sleeting(participle, present) · sleeted(participle, past) · sleeted(past)