cold snap

SEE SYNONYMS FOR cold snap ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a sudden onset of a relatively brief period of cold weather.
Also called cold spell.

Origin of cold snap

An Americanism dating back to 1770–80

Words nearby cold snap

cold patch, cold pole, cold rubber, cold shoulder, cold shower, cold snap, cold sore, cold spot, cold stage, cold start, cold steel

Example sentences from the Web for cold snap

  • An early spring cold-snap was on, and the wildness of the scene was painted in a temperature of thirty below zero.

    Smoke Bellew |Jack London

  • One could not tell how long the cold-snap would last, but it had already embarrassed him.

    The Girl From Keller's |Harold Bindloss

British Dictionary definitions for cold snap

cold snap

noun

a sudden short spell of cold weather

Idioms and Phrases with cold snap

cold snap

Also, cold spell. A short period of unusually cold weather, as in The recent cold snap has threatened the crop. The first expression presumably likens snap in the sense of “a sudden bite or cut” to sudden unexpected cold. The variant is more obvious, spell having been used in the sense of “a bout or turn at something” since the early 1700s. [Early 1800s]