snow-how

English

Alternative forms

• snowhow

Etymology

Blend of snow +‎ know-how.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsnəʊ.haʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsnoʊ.haʊ/
• Rhymes: (UK) -əʊhaʊ, (US) -oʊhaʊ

Noun

snow-how (uncountable)

1. (informal) The knowledge and skill utilized during snow and inclement weather.
   • 1966, Civic Administration, volume 18, page 19:

     SNOW-HOW means top engineering and design for durability and strength without excess weight—reinforcements and flexibility in the hitch—ease of adjustment — reliability of the hydraulic system — control of moldboard curve — all factors that make a plow and its attachments one single unit designed to do the job efficiently.

   • 1973, “Wintersports: A run for everyone's money.”, in Punch, volume 265, page 43:

     The know-how of Thomson and the snow-how of Lunn Poly have combined to produce the wintersports programme to end them all.

   • 1999, Europe - Issues 383-392, page 43:

     BUILDING A COMPANY WITH SNOW-HOW

   • 2021 January 17, Minty Lewis, “Feast of Not People Adventure” (1:29 from the start), in The Great North‎^[1], season 1, episode 2, spoken by Beef Tobin (Nick Offerman):

     “Right. So these European settlers, who were total ding-dongs, came in the dead of winter, with zero snow-how.” “Lotta loose bonnets, if you know what I'm saying.” “These underprepared vacationers turned to eating each other to survive.”