wintering

Meanings

1. 1verbintransitive

   Spending the cold months of the year in a particular place, especially to avoid harsher weather elsewhere.

   Grammar: No object; usually followed by a place: wintering in Spain.

   Patterns

   • wintering in somewhere
   • wintering at somewhere

   Thousands of geese are wintering on the lake this year.

   My grandparents are wintering in Portugal again to escape the damp.

   The researchers are wintering at a remote base in Antarctica.

2. 2noununcountablespecialist

   The act or period of spending winter somewhere, or of keeping plants and animals safe through it.

   Grammar: Usually a mass noun: the wintering of cattle.

   Patterns

   • the wintering of something

   The wintering of the sheep on low ground saved many lambs.

   Good wintering grounds are vital for migrating birds.

Common combinations

wintering grounds

The marshes serve as wintering grounds for several rare ducks.

wintering birds

We counted the wintering birds along the estuary.

wintering in the south

Many retirees enjoy wintering in the south.

wintering site

The cave is a known wintering site for bats.

Synonyms and how they differ

overwintering

Overwintering stresses surviving or staying alive through the cold season, while wintering simply means being somewhere during it.

hibernating

Hibernating means being in a deep sleep-like state, which wintering does not imply.

sojourning

Sojourning is a formal word for a temporary stay at any time of year, not just winter.

Opposites

Word family

winter verb

to spend the winter somewhere

winter noun

the coldest season

overwinter verb

to survive the winter

wintry adjective

cold and like winter

Commonly confused: wintering or wintery?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “wintering”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words