Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
corn snow

corn snow

1 7.5
Snow made of small loose grains after melting in daytime and freezing again at night
  • noun
  • /kɔrn snoʊ/
  • UK
translation icon : nieve de maíz
  • The corn snow was perfect for skiing.

Examples

  • After several freeze-thaw cycles, the mountain was covered in patches of corn snow.

  • By midday, the surface had transformed into soft corn snow under the warm sun.

  • Skiers often prefer corn snow in the spring because of its smooth, forgiving texture.

  • I love the texture of corn snow under my skis.

  • Skiers love the soft texture of corn snow during the spring season.

  • The conditions were ideal, with fresh corn snow making for perfect skiing.

  • After the sun melted the snow during the day, it froze again, creating corn snow on the slopes.

Surface Forms

corn snow singular
corn snows plural

Morphology

corn + snow

The meaning 'granular snow formed by melting and refreezing' is directly derivable from combining 'corn' (to form into small hard granules) with 'snow' (frozen flakes). This verb+noun composition transparently describes the physical state of the snow and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent senses, despite being a specialized skiing term.

Etymology

Corn snow comes from a simple image: when snow melts a little in the warm day and then freezes at night, the top turns into small round grains that look like corn kernels. So, corn snow now means that grainy, soft snow you find in spring.