The plural of 'bise,' a cold northerly wind that blows down from mountains in Switzerland and surrounding Alpine regions.
From French 'bise,' likely from Old French or Germanic origins. The term specifically refers to the Alpine wind phenomenon and was adopted into English from French.
The bise is so famous in Switzerland that people plan their activities around it—it's one of the few winds important enough to get its own word, and meteorologists and locals use 'bises' to talk about multiple occurrences of this regional weather pattern.
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