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snow fence
noun
: a usually slatted fence placed across the path of prevailing winds to protect something (such as a building, road, or railroad track) from drifting snow by disrupting the flow of wind and causing the snow to be deposited on the lee side of the fence
Examples of snow fence in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Under her dedicated leadership, the Blackfeet have built snow fences to preserve snow on the Montana grasslands just below the mountains, a moisture-saving technique.
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CBS News, 15 May 2024
Natural Snow Fence Piggybacking off the benefit of reducing water runoff, plants left standing act as a snow fence to reduce drifting across sidewalks, roads, and driveways.
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Benjamin Vogt, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Oct. 2023
On this bright, cold day in interior Alaska, five scientists and I are digging out tons of snow along the fourth of six snow fences positioned on a gradual hill on the tundra, hauling it away on sleds.
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Ted Schuur, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2016
The school was planning to build a snow fence.
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Emily Witt, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2022
The young men and a couple of parents took that snow fence, brought over for use by the city service department, and had it up in no time.
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Sam Boyer, cleveland, 26 Sep. 2021
But the ball found a gap under the snow fence in left field for a ground-rule double.
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BostonGlobe.com, 5 June 2021
Throughout the 6,272-square-foot home are concrete columns with wooden snow fence—a type of fencing often set up in Colorado fields—to bring a layered, textured stone look to the interior.
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Emily Nonko, WSJ, 29 Jan. 2020
While the open sites warmed about 1°C over the five years of the study, the sites with snow fences were almost 1°C warmer than that.
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Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 3 July 2019
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Word History
First Known Use
1872, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near snow fence
Cite this Entry
“Snow fence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snow%20fence. Accessed 8 Feb. 2025.
Kids Definition
snow fence
noun
: a fence placed across the usual path of the wind to protect something (as a road) from snowdrifts
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