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Winter solstice   /wˈɪntər sˈɔlstɪs/   Listen
noun
Winter  n.  
1.
The season of the year in which the sun shines most obliquely upon any region; the coldest season of the year. "Of thirty winter he was old." "And after summer evermore succeeds Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold." "Winter lingering chills the lap of May." Note: North of the equator, winter is popularly taken to include the months of December, January, and February (see Season). Astronomically, it may be considered to begin with the winter solstice, about December 21st, and to end with the vernal equinox, about March 21st.
2.
The period of decay, old age, death, or the like. "Life's autumn past, I stand on winter's verge."
Winter apple, an apple that keeps well in winter, or that does not ripen until winter.
Winter barley, a kind of barley that is sown in autumn.
Winter berry (Bot.), the name of several American shrubs (Ilex verticillata, Ilex laevigata, etc.) of the Holly family, having bright red berries conspicuous in winter.
Winter bloom. (Bot.)
(a)
A plant of the genus Azalea.
(b)
A plant of the genus Hamamelis (Hamamelis Viginica); witch-hazel; so called from its flowers appearing late in autumn, while the leaves are falling.
Winter bud (Zool.), a statoblast.
Winter cherry (Bot.), a plant (Physalis Alkekengi) of the Nightshade family, which has, a red berry inclosed in the inflated and persistent calyx. See Alkekengi.
Winter cough (Med.), a form of chronic bronchitis marked by a cough recurring each winter.
Winter cress (Bot.), a yellow-flowered cruciferous plant (Barbarea vulgaris).
Winter crop, a crop which will bear the winter, or which may be converted into fodder during the winter.
Winter duck. (Zool.)
(a)
The pintail.
(b)
The old squaw.
Winter egg (Zool.), an egg produced in the autumn by many invertebrates, and destined to survive the winter. Such eggs usually differ from the summer eggs in having a thicker shell, and often in being enveloped in a protective case. They sometimes develop in a manner different from that of the summer eggs.
Winter fallow, ground that is fallowed in winter.
Winter fat. (Bot.) Same as White sage, under White.
Winter fever (Med.), pneumonia. (Colloq.)
Winter flounder. (Zool.) See the Note under Flounder.
Winter gull (Zool.), the common European gull; called also winter mew. (Prov. Eng.)
Winter itch. (Med.) See Prarie itch, under Prairie.
Winter lodge, or Winter lodgment. (Bot.) Same as Hibernaculum.
Winter mew. (Zool.) Same as Winter gull, above. (Prov. Eng.)
Winter moth (Zool.), any one of several species of geometrid moths which come forth in winter, as the European species (Cheimatobia brumata). These moths have rudimentary mouth organs, and eat no food in the imago state. The female of some of the species is wingless.
Winter oil, oil prepared so as not to solidify in moderately cold weather.
Winter pear, a kind of pear that keeps well in winter, or that does not ripen until winter.
Winter quarters, the quarters of troops during the winter; a winter residence or station.
Winter rye, a kind of rye that is sown in autumn.
Winter shad (Zool.), the gizzard shad.
Winter sheldrake (Zool.), the goosander. (Local, U. S.)
Winter sleep (Zool.), hibernation.
Winter snipe (Zool.), the dunlin.
Winter solstice. (Astron.) See Solstice, 2.
Winter teal (Zool.), the green-winged teal.
Winter wagtail (Zool.), the gray wagtail (Motacilla melanope). (Prov. Eng.)
Winter wheat, wheat sown in autumn, which lives during the winter, and ripens in the following summer.
Winter wren (Zool.), a small American wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) closely resembling the common wren.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Winter solstice" Quotes from Famous Books



... a fine and quiet afternoon, about three o'clock; but the winter solstice having stealthily come on, the lowness of the sun caused the hour to seem later than it actually was, there being little here to remind an inhabitant that he must unlearn his summer experience of the sky as a dial. In ...
— The Return of the Native • Thomas Hardy
... to my certain knowledge, Mayer's drawing gives the year, above the figure of the sun which indicates the date of the calendar, quite wrongly; and yet, presuming on his own accuracy, he accuses another writer of leaving out the hieroglyph of the winter solstice. What is much more strange is, that Humboldt's drawing in the small edition of the Vues des Cordilleres is wrong in both points. The drawing in Nebel's great work is probably the best. As to the wax models which Mr. Christy and I bought in Mexico, in the innocence of our hearts, a nearer inspection ...
— Anahuac • Edward Burnett Tylor
... and the regions about the North Pole, there is, at the summer solstice, an almost uninterrupted day for nearly two months. Tacitus here seems to affirm this as universally the case, not having heard that, at the winter solstice, there is a night ...
— The Germany and the Agricola of Tacitus • Tacitus
... as Hamilcar turned away he began to cry aloud and invoke all the Baals. It was not his fault! he could not help it! He had watched the temperature, the soil, the stars, had planted at the winter solstice and pruned at the waning of the moon, had inspected the slaves and had been ...
— Salammbo • Gustave Flaubert
... at Marseilles. As he glided along the Ligurian coast, he was delighted by the sight of myrtles and olive trees, which retained their verdure under the winter solstice. Soon, however, he encountered one of the black storms of the Mediterranean. The captain of the ship gave up all for lost, and confessed himself to a Capuchin who happened to be on board. The English heretic, ...
— Critical and Historical Essays, Volume III (of 3) • Thomas Babington Macaulay
... situation of Tongataboo, toward the tropic, the climate is more variable, than in countries farther within that line, though, perhaps, that might be owing to the season of the year, which was now the winter solstice. The winds are, for the most part, from some point between south and east; and, when moderate, are commonly attended with fine weather. When they blow fresher, the weather is often cloudy, though open; ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 15 (of 18) • Robert Kerr
... There they built great circles of upright monoliths. These were intended to be symbolical of the sun's yearly course, but they were also used for astronomical purposes—being placed so that, to one standing at the high altar, the sun would rise at the winter solstice behind one of these monoliths, at the vernal equinox behind another, and so on throughout the year. Astronomical observations of a still more complex character connected with the more distant constellations were also helped ...
— The Story of Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria • W. Scott-Elliot


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