wintertime

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   The period of the year when it is winter, thought of as a time with its own habits and feel.

   Grammar: No plural and usually no article: in wintertime, not in a wintertime.

   Patterns

   • in wintertime
   • during wintertime

   In wintertime the lake freezes and the whole town goes skating.

   My grandmother makes thick soup every wintertime.

   The beach is nearly empty in wintertime.

2. 2noununcountableBritish

   The time when clocks are set to standard time rather than daylight saving time, in countries that change them.

   Grammar: Often contrasted with summertime: the clocks go back for wintertime.

   Patterns

   • switch to wintertime

   Many European countries change to wintertime at the end of October.

   After the switch to wintertime, it is dark by five o'clock.

   Some people want to keep wintertime all year round.

Common combinations

in wintertime

The roads are often icy in wintertime.

during wintertime

Heating bills rise during wintertime.

cozy wintertime

We spent a cozy wintertime by the fire.

wintertime activities

Skiing is the main wintertime activity here.

wintertime blues

Her wintertime blues vanish when the days grow longer.

Synonyms and how they differ

winter

Winter is the plain, everyday word and is the one used with adjectives and articles, such as a cold winter.

the cold season

The cold season is more descriptive and neutral, and is used where a writer wants to avoid naming winter.

midwinter

Midwinter refers only to the deepest part of the season, not the whole period.

Opposites

Word family

winter noun

the coldest season

wintry adjective

cold, snowy or typical of winter

wintery adjective

a less common spelling of wintry

summertime noun

the warm season, the opposite of wintertime

Commonly confused: wintertime or winter time?

Practice

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

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