frost

n. [ 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. ] 1. The act of freezing; -- applied chiefly to the congelation of water; congelation of fluids. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state or temperature of the air which occasions congelation, or the freezing of water; severe cold or freezing weather. [ 1913 Webster ]

The third bay comes a frost, a killing frost. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Frozen dew; -- called also hoarfrost or white frost. [ 1913 Webster ]

He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. Ps. cxlvii. 16. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Coldness or insensibility; severity or rigidity of character. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

It was of those moments of intense feeling when the frost of the Scottish people melts like a snow wreath. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Black frost, cold so intense as to freeze vegetation and cause it to turn black, without the formation of hoarfrost. --
Frost bearer (Physics), a philosophical instrument illustrating the freezing of water in a vacuum; a cryophorus. --
Frost grape (Bot.), an American grape, with very small, acid berries. --
Frost lamp, a lamp placed below the oil tube of an Argand lamp to keep the oil limpid on cold nights; -- used especially in lighthouses. Knight. --
Frost nail, a nail with a sharp head driven into a horse's shoe to keep him from slipping. --
Frost smoke, an appearance resembling smoke, caused by congelation of vapor in the atmosphere in time of severe cold. [ 1913 Webster ] The brig and the ice round her are covered by a strange black
obscurity: it is the frost smoke of arctic winters. Kane. --
Frost valve, a valve to drain the portion of a pipe, hydrant, pump, etc., where water would be liable to freeze. --
Jack Frost, a popular personification of frost. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Frosted; p. pr. & vb. n. Frosting. ] 1. To injure by frost; to freeze, as plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cover with hoarfrost; to produce a surface resembling frost upon, as upon cake, metals, or glass; as, glass may be frosted by exposure to hydrofluoric acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

While with a hoary light she frosts the ground. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To roughen or sharpen, as the nail heads or calks of horseshoes, so as to fit them for frosty weather. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The golden plover. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To expose to the effect of frost, or a frosty air; to blight or nip with frost. [ 1913 Webster ]

My wife up and with Mrs. Pen to walk in the fields to frostbite themselves. Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The freezing, or effect of a freezing, of some part of the body, as the ears, fingers, toes, or nose. Severe frostbite can lead to the loss of fingers or toes. Kane.

p. a. Nipped, withered, or injured, by frost or freezing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) (a) A plant of the genus Atriplex; orache. Gray. (b) The lamb's-quarters (Chenopodium album). Dr. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A white arc or circle in the sky attending frosty weather and formed by reflection of sunlight from ice crystals floating in the air; the parhelic circle whose center is at the zenith. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. 1. Covered with hoarfrost or anything resembling hoarfrost; ornamented with frosting; also, frost-bitten; as, a frosted cake; frosted donuts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Provided with a surface finish which is matte or with a very fine grain, reminiscent of the surface texture of frost; as, frosted glass. Opposed to polished or burnished. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Frosted work is introduced as a foil or contrast to burnished work. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]