A snow blower, snowblower, or snow thrower is a machine for removing snow from an area where it is not wanted, such as a driveway, sidewalk, roadway, or runway. It can use either electric power, or a gasoline or diesel engine to throw snow to another location or into a truck to be hauled away. This is in contrast with the action of snow plows, which push snow to the front or side (shovels can be similarly used).
Snow blowers range from the very small, capable of removing only several inches (a few cm) of light snow in an 18 to 20 inch (45 to 50 cm) path, to very large, mounted onto heavy duty winter service vehicles and capable of moving 10 foot (3 m) wide swaths of heavy snow up to 6 feet (2 m) deep. Snow blowers can generally be divided into two classes: single stage and two stage.