Definition of "microclimate" [microclimate]

• The climate of a small, specific place within an area as contrasted with the climate of the entire area. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Britain's literary microclimate is tropical in its fever and Elizabethan in its profusion."
• "A microclimate is the climate of a small area that is different from the area around it."
• "Veteran champions of riesling such as Hugh Johnson, author of The World Atlas of Wine, and Jancis Robinson, who have helped to give the white wine an international standing, are calling on German politicians to halt construction at the site along the Mosel river which they say could ruin the region's unique microclimate, which is highly sensitive to change."