That’s a new one on me this side of the pond – guess we don’t get the sheer variety of kinds of snow! fwiw, the OED only offers a slew of meanings to do with gripping and grabbing, with no mention of snow at all, so mebbe it is a true indigenous Americanism. Could it perhaps come from German or a Scandinavian language given the Plains settlement patterns? – it sounds like that to my ears, though no idea about possible roots.

edit: oh, OK having just looked up the route you suggested in AHD, myr, it says that the OF form came from a German root - this under 'grape'. So is it just as simple as Germanic speaking communities out on the Plains talking about 'grapes' as a figurative description of snow in pellet form? or have I not understood what this stuff looks like?

Last edited by maverick; 01/16/2006 7:10 PM.