What meteorological term describes severe weather that includes high winds and heavy precipitation?

The term that best describes severe weather involving high winds and heavy precipitation is "storm." A storm encompasses a wide range of atmospheric disturbances characterized by turbulent weather, which can include thunderstorms, hurricanes, and other severe weather phenomena.

In this context, the definition of a storm is broad enough to include various types of severe weather events that are associated with intense wind and precipitation. Thunderstorms, while they do fit the criteria of including heavy precipitation and wind, represent a specific type of storm rather than the overarching term.

Hurricanes are indeed a specific type of storm characterized by strong winds and heavy rain, but they are limited to tropical systems and do not encompass all weather events that can be classified as severe storms. "Cold front" refers to a boundary between a cold air mass and a warm air mass, which can lead to storms, but by itself does not denote the severe weather conditions.

Thus, storm is the most encompassing and accurate term used to describe severe weather characterized by high winds and heavy precipitation.