From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthe elementsthe elements[plural]DN the weather, especially bad weather sailors battling against the elements → element
Examples from the Corpus
the elements• The market is evidence of a struggle against the elements.• This is claimed to ensure that all the elements dissolve fully and equally.• Among the elements necessary to virtually all contemporary epidemics, in addition to the sufferers themselves, are sympathetic physicians.• If you venture out in all weathers, you need a compact camera that can brave the elements, too.• The tent was their only protection from the elements.• Then we should have some algorithm for generating the elements of this complementary set.• There is a real change in the elements.• And to add to the horrors of the scene, the elements of heaven marshalled their forces...• Even the express was beginning to show signs of vulnerability to the elements. 