winterlongadj.adv.
/ˌwɪntəˈlɒŋ/, U.S. /ˌwɪn(t)ərˈlɔŋ/, /ˌwɪn(t)ərˈlɑŋ/ A. adj.† 1. Of a night: long, as nights are in winter. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
c1330 Lai le Freine in Smith Coll. Stud. Mod. Langs. (1929) 10 iii. 5 (MED) Al þe winterlong niȝt.
2. That lasts the whole winter; that is as long as the winter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > year > season > [adjective] > of or relating to winter > since or all winter
winterlong1843
winter-old1897
1843 Graham's Mag. May 308/1 Forth she wanders in the sunshine, From her winter-long repose.
1895 Rural New-Yorker 28 Dec. 853/3 The irksome task of winter-long ‘feeding’.
1950 Sci. News Let. 25 Nov. 350/1 Mother mosquito settles down to a winterlong coma.
1976 H. White Raincoast Chron. 229/1 The millwright began his winter-long chore of dismantling, repairing, and re-assembling the entire mechanical plant.
2016 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 15 Mar. s1 The winterlong rigours are extreme... ‘You have to be pretty flawless the whole season long just to survive’.
B. adv.
Chiefly poetic. For the duration of winter; throughout the whole of winter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > year > season > [adverb] > through, during, or towards winter
winterishly1716
winterlong1843
winterward1868
winters?c1870
1843 Christian Examiner & Gen. Rev. Jan. 288 Hidden in their quiet strength, Winter-long their germs repose.
1876 W. Morris tr. Virgil Æneids iv. 193 How winter-long between them there the sweets of sloth they nursed.
1914 C. H. Doing Songs of Hedgerow & Lane 7 Winterlong the violets sleep, Quiescent till the gales of spring Blow off their leafy covering.
1985 Jrnl. Range Managem. 38 444/1 Separate trials were conducted on seasonal pastures grazed winterlong and summerlong.
2006 Prairie Schooner 80 162 In all, I lived well on hams and chickens off the cart, winterlong that dismal year.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.adv.c1330