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Glite Dictionary
to white-out

to white-out

7.2
Daylight becomes hard to see when fog, snow, or rain covers everything
  • verb
  • /ˈwaɪt aʊt/
  • UK
translation icon : blanquear
  • As the blizzard intensified, the entire road seemed to white-out in a matter of minutes.

Examples

  • If the weather white-outs again tomorrow, we’ll have to cancel our hike.

  • The storm white-outed the mountain pass, leaving the skiers stranded.

  • The storm caused the visibility to white-out completely.

  • During the blizzard, the landscape white-outed in minutes.

  • As the winter storm progressed, the visibility began to white-out, making it impossible to see beyond a few feet.

  • The heavy snowfall caused the valley to white-out, transforming the scene into a blur of white and gray.

  • When the fog rolled in quickly, the city began to white-out, and drivers had to slow down to avoid accidents.

Synonyms

to whiteout
vsto white-out
  • UK
8.0

To lose visibility in heavy snow, fog or rain so the land looks white

is the same weather event but written with a hyphen in some forms

Antonyms

sunny day
37 1.0

A day when the sun shines and there are few clouds

How Visible

clear
866 1.0
mist
115 1.0
fog
155 1.0
to white-out
  • UK
7.2

Surface Forms

white-out infinitive
white-outed past
white-outed past participle
white-outing present participle
white-outs third person singular

Morphology

white-out = whiteout (semi-transparent) = out + white

The verb is a conversion from the noun whiteout, whose imagery is fairly clear, but the weather-sense is somewhat specialized.

Etymology

White-out comes from the two simple words white (the colour of snow) and out meaning 'no visibility', similar to blackout. It paints the picture of the world 'going white' so you cannot see, which is why to white-out means the weather has become so snowy or foggy that daylight visibility is lost.