/fɹɒst/, /fɹɔst/, /fɹɑst/
OriginFrom Middle English frost, from an unmetathesized variant of Old English forst (“frost”), from Proto-Germanic *frustaz (“frost”), from Proto-Indo-European *prews- (“to freeze; frost”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Froast, Fröäst (“frost”), West Frisian froast (“frost”), Cimbrian bròst, vrost, vròst (“frost”), Dutch vorst (“frost”), German Frost (“frost”), Luxembourgish Frascht (“frost”), Vilamovian fröst (“frost”), Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish frost (“frost”), Latin pruīna (“hoarfrost, frost, rime, snow”). Related to freeze.
- countable, uncountableA cover of minute ice crystals on objects that are exposed to the air. Frost is formed by the same process as dew, except that the temperature of the frosted object is below freezing.
- countable, uncountableThe cold weather that causes these ice crystals to form.
“Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.”
“It is more probable, in almost every country of Europe, that there will be frost sometime in January, than that the weather will continue open throughout that whole month;”
- countable, figuratively, uncountableColdness or insensibility; severity or rigidity of character.
“It was one of those moments of intense feeling when the frost of the Scottish people melts like a snow-wreath.”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableThe act of freezing; the congelation of water or other liquid.
- countable, uncountableA shade of white, like that of frost.
- countable, dated, slang, uncountableA disappointment; a cheat.
- countable, uncountableA kind of light diffuser.
“Frosts and diffusion are flame retardant and produce similar results except that some of the frosts are very subtle in their effects. For example: Hamburg Frost will soften the beam edge with little a”
- transitiveTo cover with frost.
- intransitiveTo become covered with frost.
““The weather is pleasant while it frosted a little at night.””
- transitiveTo coat (something, e.g. a cake) with icing to resemble frost.
- informal, transitiveTo anger or annoy.
“I think the boss's decision frosted him a bit.”
- transitiveTo sharpen (the points of a horse's shoe) to prevent it from slipping on ice.
- transitiveTo bleach individual strands of hair while leaving adjacent strands untouched.
- countable, uncountableA surname.
“A video filmed and shared on the social media site Bluesky by Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost, also a Democrat, shows Hairfield outside the building and several officers from the federal Department ”
- countable, uncountableAn unincorporated community in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.
- countable, uncountableA township in Clare County, Michigan.
- countable, uncountableA minor city in Faribault County, Minnesota.
- countable, uncountableAn unincorporated community in Athens County, Ohio.
- countable, uncountableA minor city in Navarro County, Texas.
- countable, uncountableAn unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
Formsfrosts(plural) · froste(alternative, obsolete) · frosts(present, singular, third-person) · frosting(participle, present) · frosted(participle, past) · frosted(past) · Frosts(plural)
Source: Wiktionary