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frost

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frost¹

  • /fɹɒst/ UK
  • /fɹɔst/ US
  • /fɹɑst/ cot caught merger

Rhymes with -ɒst, -ɔːst

Where it comes from

From 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.

noun frosts · froste

  1. countable, uncountable A 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.
  2. countable, uncountable The 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.
  3. countable, figuratively, uncountable Coldness 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.
  4. countable, obsolete, uncountable The act of freezing; the congelation of water or other liquid.
  5. countable, uncountable A shade of white, like that of frost.
  6. countable, dated, slang, uncountable A disappointment; a cheat.
  7. countable, uncountable A 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 additional spread of the beam.

verb frosts · frosting · frosted · froste

  1. transitive To cover with frost.
  2. intransitive To become covered with frost. “The weather is pleasant while it frosted a little at night.”
  3. transitive To coat (something, e.g. a cake) with icing to resemble frost.
  4. informal, transitive To anger or annoy. I think the boss's decision frosted him a bit.
  5. transitive To sharpen (the points of a horse's shoe) to prevent it from slipping on ice.
  6. transitive To bleach individual strands of hair while leaving adjacent strands untouched.

Frost²

Rhymes with -ɒst, -ɔːst

Where it comes from

English, German, Swedish and Danish surname, all from the noun frost.

proper noun Frosts

  1. countable, uncountable A 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 of Homeland Security behind the doors, labeled “All Access Entrance.”
  2. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.
  3. countable, uncountable A township in Clare County, Michigan.
  4. countable, uncountable A minor city in Faribault County, Minnesota.
  5. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Athens County, Ohio.
  6. countable, uncountable A minor city in Navarro County, Texas.
  7. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: hoarfrost, rime, ice, freeze, hoar, icing, robert frost, deicing, freeze-up, frozen, defrosting, freezing, frosty, cold, chilling, gel

Translations

Every language

noun cover of minute ice crystals

Españolescarcha, helada, carama, cencellada, cenceñada, recencellada
한국어서리 seori
日本語霜 shimo
中文霜 shuāng
हिन्दीतुषार tuṣār
Portuguêsgeada
Françaisgivre
DeutschReif
Italianobrina
Ελληνικάπάγος págos, πάχνη páchni
Românăbrumă
Русскийи́ней ínej, и́зморозь ízmorozʹ
Tiếng Việtsương giá
العربيةصَقِيع ṣaqīʕ
עבריתכְּפוֹר k'for

noun cold weather that would cause frost

Españolhelada, pruina
한국어서리 seori
日本語霜 shimo
中文嚴寒 /严寒 yánhán, 冰凍 /冰冻 bīngdòng, 寒冷 hánlěng, 霜 shuāng
हिन्दीपाला pālā
Portuguêsgeada, frio
Françaisgel
DeutschFrost
Italianogelata, gelo
Ελληνικάπαγετός pagetós, παγωνιά pagoniá
Românăger
Русскийморо́з moróz, за́морозки zámorozki
Tiếng Việtbăng giá
العربيةصَقِيع ṣaqīʕ, صَقْعَة ṣaqʕa
עבריתקָרָה qará

verb to cover with frost

Españolhelar

verb to become covered with frost

Españolescarchar, helar
中文結霜 /结霜 jiéshuāng
Portuguêsescarchar
Italianobrinare
Ελληνικάπαγώνω pagóno
Românăbruma
Русскийобледене́ть obledenétʹ

verb to coat with icing

Españolglasear, granizar
Deutschglasieren
Italianoglassare
Русскийоледени́ть oledenítʹ, заледени́ть zaledenítʹ

verb to anger or annoy

中文惹毛 rěmáo
Italianogelare
Русскийвымора́живать vymoráživatʹ, вы́морозить výmorozitʹ

verb to sharpen the points of a horse's shoe

Españolherrar

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Cite this
MLA

"frost." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/frost. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

frost. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/frost

Chicago

"frost." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/frost.

BibTeX
@misc{frost_2026,
  title = {frost},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/frost},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}