Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Temporarily blinded by exposure to light reflected from snow or ice: Describes a condition where vision is impaired due to intense glare from snow or ice, similar to photokeratitis or "snow blindness."

2. Verb (transitive):

   • To affect with snow blindness: To cause someone to become temporarily blinded by the intense glare of sunlight reflected off snow or ice.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • The climbers became snow-blind after a full day on the glacier without protective goggles.
  • He was snow-blind for several hours, unable to see anything but a bright, painful haze.

• Verb:

  • The intense glare from the fresh powder snow-blinded the skier for a moment.
  • Years of mountaineering without proper eye protection had snow-blinded him on more than one occasion.

Advanced Usage

• "snow-blinded" (past participle adjective): Used to describe the state of having been affected.
  • The snow-blinded hiker had to be guided back to camp by his companions.

Variants and Related Words

• Snow blindness (n): The medical condition itself, a form of photokeratitis caused by UV radiation reflected from snow.
  • Proper sunglasses are essential to prevent snow blindness.

Synonyms

• Dazzled: Overcome with bright light, impairing vision temporarily (less specific to snow).
• Glare-blinded: Blinded by intense light.

Notes

• The term is often hyphenated ("snow-blind," "snow-blinded") but can also be found as a single word ("snowblind") or two words ("snow blind"), especially when used as a noun phrase ("suffering from snow blind"). The hyphenated form is common for the adjective and verb.

Verb

1. affect with snow blindness
   • the glare of the sun snow-blinded her

Adjective

1. temporarily blinded by exposure to light reflected from snow or ice