Snowploughed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Cleared snow off a road, runway or path by pushing it aside with a large blade fitted to a vehicle
2. Pushed heaps of snow aside from a surface using a heavy plough attached to a truck or tractor
3. Removed accumulated snow from a route by driving a plough blade through it to make passage possible

Etymology: "Snowploughed" is the past tense and past participle of "snowplough", so it is the form of the verb meaning to clear snow aside, here used in its ordinary past sense. The verb is formed from "snow" and "plough", a plain compound in which the noun "snow" modifies the verb "plough". The plough it borrows from is the old farm implement that turns over soil, so the compound carries the image of driving a blade through a surface to push material out of the way. Its specific sense for clearing roads and runways came from applying that same action to snow rather than earth.

Synonyms: snowplow, plow, plough