A snow thrower is a machine that clears snow from driveways, sidewalks, and paths by scooping it up and throwing it to the side. Unlike a snow plow, which simply pushes snow out of the way, a snow thrower picks up the snow with a spinning mechanism and launches it through a chute, often shooting it 20 or 30 feet away from where you're working.

Snow throwers come in different sizes. Small ones are pushed like lawn mowers and work well for light snowfalls on narrow walkways. Larger models are self-propelled and can handle deep snow across wide driveways. The biggest snow throwers can clear paths several feet wide in a single pass, making quick work of even heavy winter storms.

People often call these machines snow blowers, and the terms mean the same thing. The machine uses a powerful motor to spin an auger (a screw-shaped blade) that pulls snow into the machine, then a fan or impeller blasts it out through an adjustable chute. You can usually control which direction the snow flies, so you don't accidentally cover your neighbor's freshly cleared driveway.

Before snow throwers became common in the mid-1900s, people cleared snow with shovels alone, which meant hours of hard work after every storm.