Chinook wind
- noun
- /ʃɪˈnʊk wɪnd/
- US
:
viento chinook
- After several cold weeks, the Chinook wind brought a sudden warmth that surprised everyone.
Examples
-
The warm Chinook wind blew through the valley, raising the temperature and melting the snow.
-
A few days ago, we had a Chinook wind, as Mr. Bondurant calls it, that melted so much snow that I could see bare patches of ground.
Fiction book (1997) -
Residents welcomed the Chinook wind as it warmed the chilly mountain air and sped up spring's arrival.
Synonyms
1
7.7
A warm dry wind that blows down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
A warm dry wind that quickly melts snow on mountain slopes
A warm, dry wind that blows down mountain slopes and raises the temperature
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is fully compositional: 'chinook' names a particular warm, down-slope wind and 'wind' simply classifies it, so a learner who knows both constituent meanings will directly derive the MWE meaning. Although 'Chinook' is a regional/lexicalized term, the semantic relation is literal and not idiomatic or metaphorical.
Etymology
Chinook wind may get its name from the Chinook people on the Pacific coast, who told early travellers about a warm wind that came down from the mountains. That warm, dry wind would suddenly 'melt the snow' and 'bring warmer weather', so today the name means a quick, warming wind.