frost Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun ice crystals forming a white deposit (especially on objects outside)
    hoarfrost; hoar; rime.
  2. noun weather cold enough to cause freezing
    freeze.
  3. noun the formation of frost or ice on a surface
    icing.
  4. noun United States poet famous for his lyrical poems on country life in New England (1874-1963)
    Robert Lee Frost; Robert Frost.
  5. verb decorate with frosting
    ice.
    • frost a cake
  6. verb provide with a rough or speckled surface or appearance
    • frost the glass
    • she frosts her hair
  7. verb cover with frost
    • ice crystals frosted the glass
  8. verb damage by frost
    • The icy precipitation frosted the flowers and they turned brown

WordNet


Frost noun
Etymology
OE. frost, forst, AS. forst, frost. fr. freósan to freeze; akin to D. varst, G., OHG., Icel., Dan., & Sw. frost. *18. See Freeze, v. i.
Definitions
  1. The act of freezing; -- applied chiefly to the congelation of water; congelation of fluids.
  2. The state or temperature of the air which occasions congelation, or the freezing of water; severe cold or freezing weather.
    The third bay comes a frost, a killing frost. Shak.
  3. Frozen dew; -- called also hoarfrost or white frost.
    He scattereth the frost like ashes. Ps. cxlvii. 16.
  4. Coldness or insensibility; severity or rigidity of character. R.
    It was of those moments of intense feeling when the frost of the Scottish people melts like a snow wreath. Sir W. Scott.
Frost transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Frostted; present participle & verbal noun Frosting
Definitions
  1. To injure by frost; to freeze, as plants.
  2. To cover with hoarfrost; to produce a surface resembling frost upon, as upon cake, metals, or glass.
    While with a hoary light she frosts the ground. Wordsworth.
  3. To roughen or sharpen, as the nail heads or calks of horseshoes, so as to fit them for frosty weather.

Webster 1913