snow fence

noun

: a usually slatted fence placed across the path of prevailing winds to protect something (such as a building, road, or railroad track) from drifting snow by disrupting the flow of wind and causing the snow to be deposited on the lee side of the fence

Examples of snow fence in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Natural Snow Fence Piggybacking off the benefit of reducing water runoff, plants left standing act as a snow fence to reduce drifting across sidewalks, roads, and driveways. Benjamin Vogt, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Oct. 2023 On this bright, cold day in interior Alaska, five scientists and I are digging out tons of snow along the fourth of six snow fences positioned on a gradual hill on the tundra, hauling it away on sleds. Ted Schuur, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2016 The school was planning to build a snow fence. Emily Witt, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2022 The young men and a couple of parents took that snow fence, brought over for use by the city service department, and had it up in no time. Sam Boyer, cleveland, 26 Sep. 2021 But the ball found a gap under the snow fence in left field for a ground-rule double. BostonGlobe.com, 5 June 2021 Throughout the 6,272-square-foot home are concrete columns with wooden snow fence—a type of fencing often set up in Colorado fields—to bring a layered, textured stone look to the interior. Emily Nonko, WSJ, 29 Jan. 2020 While the open sites warmed about 1°C over the five years of the study, the sites with snow fences were almost 1°C warmer than that. Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 3 July 2019 This had the effect of making the ground at these sites warmer than in the open spots without snow fences, which simulated future warming. Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 3 July 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'snow fence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of snow fence was in 1872

Dictionary Entries Near snow fence

Cite this Entry

“Snow fence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snow%20fence. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

snow fence

noun
: a fence placed across the usual path of the wind to protect something (as a road) from snowdrifts
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