Meaning & use
bize
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablerare
A cold, dry wind from the north that blows down into parts of Switzerland and the far southeast of France.
Grammar: Countable but usually singular with the: the bize blows, not a bize, when speaking generally.
Patterns
- the bize blows
- the bize sweeps down from the north
- a biting bize
In winter the bize sweeps down from the Jura mountains and makes Geneva feel bitterly cold.
Farmers in the Rhône valley fear the bize because its dry blast can damage young vines.
Word forms
| plural | bizes |
|---|
Common combinations
- the bize blows
- When the bize blows, the lake churns and the temperature drops sharply.
- a biting bize
- A biting bize kept tourists off the mountain paths all week.
- the bize sweeps down
- The bize sweeps down through the valley, drying the air within hours.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bise
- This is the same French wind under its more common spelling; use bise in anything except specialized English weather writing.
- mistral
- Also a cold northerly wind in southern France, but the mistral is a fierce, much stronger wind of the Rhône valley, while the bize is drier and mainly affects Switzerland.
Opposites
Commonly confused: bize or bise?
bize vs bise
Bize and bise name the same wind; bize is a rare English variant spelling and bise is the form used in French and most English texts.
Practice
The forecast warned that the bize would arrive tonight. What kind of weather should people expect?
Choose one answer.
A bize is a cold, dry wind from the north that blows across Switzerland and southern France, so option A fits. A hot desert wind (sirocco) and a tropical storm describe completely different kinds of wind.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bize”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.