to snow in
—| B2-C1 (upper-intermediate to advanced) |—
In North American English, this word typically means:
PHRASAL VERB: to snow so much that people cannot safely leave, or leave at all
NOTE:
Though this phrasal verb can be used in the active voice (it snowed me in), it is more commonly used in the passive voice (it was snowed in).
When the active voice is used with this phrasal verb, the subject cannot be a person (e.g. it, blizzard, storm, etc.) and there must be an object (i.e. a person or thing “receiving” the snowing in) (see example 1; “us” is the object).
When the passive voice is used with this phrasal verb, the subject must be a person (e.g. I, you, he/she, we, they). No object is required (see example 2).
It should be noted that some non-human words, such as places (e.g. building, office, school, church, neighbourhood, etc.), can be used in the passive voice because they imply that these places are full of people. No object is required (see example 3).
EXAMPLES:
“Here, grab a cushion and a blanket. If the blizzard snows us in, we’re not gonna be able to leave for who knows how long, so we might as well get comfortable.”
“I don’t think we’re gonna make it to your friend’s birthday party this evening… Have you seen outside? It looks like we’re snowed in. There’s no way we’re gonna be able to open the door, let alone get the car out of the garage.”
“The entire campus was snowed in for three days. There was no bus service to or from the grounds. Since the majority of students rely on public transportation to get to school, the dean had no choice but to cancel classes until the snow could be removed.”
Have you ever been snowed in? Where were you? Did it stop you from going somewhere you wanted to go? Let me know in the comments below.
ASSOCIATED WORDS:
Some words associated with “to snow in” include:
snowed-in (adjective before a noun)
Some opposites of “to snow in” include:
to be able to leave (verb phrase)
to be able to get out (verb phrase)
