The earliest recorded appearance of the word blizzard meaning “a severe snowstorm” was in the April 23, 1870 issue of a newspaper published in Estherville, Iowa. Blizzard shows up again during the following years in several newspapers in Iowa and neighboring states, and by 1888, when a snowstorm paralyzed the Eastern seaboard, the word was well-known nationally. However, in other senses, the word blizzard existed earlier. Davy Crockett, for instance, used it twice in the 1830s, once to mean a rifle blast and once to mean for a blast of words. All of these uses seem related, but the ultimate origin of the word is still unclear.
Example Sentences
We were snowed in by a raging blizzard.
Recent Examples on the WebThe episode feints toward genuine rapprochement before yanking the rug out, leaving The Gang pelted with an industrial grade indoor blizzard and then happily hucking rocks at passing trains, as was Mac and Charlie's childhood tradition. Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 3 Sep. 2022 The play is a tragicomedy about a retirement home in northern Idaho where a record-breaking blizzard forces the last three residents to contemplate their own mortality when one of them wanders out into the storm. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Aug. 2022 When the father is abruptly called away to work, his fiancée Grace stays with the two young children — but after a blizzard hits, demons from her past threaten everyone’s safety. Leah Campano, Seventeen, 12 Aug. 2022 The storm system responsible for the fires and blizzard has produced incredible temperature contrasts.Washington Post, 25 Apr. 2022 That a fun blizzard would mean that school was cancelled! Claire Friedman, The New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2022 The National Weather Service’s blizzard warning for much of the state and smaller sections of South Dakota and Montana remained in effect Thursday.NBC News, 14 Apr. 2022 Half of the states in the continental U.S. are currently under threat of heavy snow, blizzard, fire danger, strong winds and flooding. Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 13 Apr. 2022 For about two days, Tomeo and his staff battled ground blizzard conditions, which made the trail difficult, but temperatures remained mild — at least by Interior Alaska standards. Emily Mesner, Anchorage Daily News, 27 Mar. 2022 See More