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• frost
  frost

  noun

  a degree or state of coldness sufficient to cause the freezing of water.
• Frost
  Frost

  noun

  Robert (Lee), 1874–1963, U.S. poet.

frost

¹ American  

[frawst, frost] / frɔst, frɒst /

noun

• frosts
  plural

1. a degree or state of coldness sufficient to cause the freezing of water.

2. Also called hoarfrost.  a covering of minute ice needles, formed from the atmosphere at night upon the ground and exposed objects when they have cooled by radiation below the dew point, and when the dew point is below the freezing point.

3. an opaque coating of tiny, white, granular ice particles, formed on the walls or contents of a freezer by the condensation of water vapor; rime.

4. the act or process of freezing.

5. coldness of manner or temperament.

   We noticed a definite frost in his greeting.

   Synonyms:

   reserve, distance, indifference, aloofness

6. Informal. a coolness between persons.

7. Informal. something that meets with lack of enthusiasm, as a theatrical performance or party; failure; flop.

8. a milkshake, frappe, or similar drink.

   a chocolate frost.

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verb (used with object)

• frosts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• frosted,
  past participle,  past
• frosting
  present participle

1. to cover with frost.

2. to give a frostlike surface to (glass, metal, etc.).

3. to ice (a cake, cookies, etc.).

4. to bleach selected strands of (a person's hair) in order to create highlights.

5. to kill or injure by frost.

   a freezing rain that badly frosted the tomato plants.

6. to make angry.

   I was frosted by his critical comment.

verb (used without object)

• frosts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• frosted,
  past participle,  past
• frosting
  present participle

1. to become covered with frost (often followed by up orover ).

   The windshield has frosted over.

2. (of varnish, paint, etc.) to dry with a film resembling frost.

idioms

1. degree of frost, the degree of temperature Fahrenheit below the freezing point.

   10 degrees of frost is equivalent to 22°F.

Frost ² American  

[frawst, frost] / frɔst, frɒst /

noun

1. Robert (Lee), 1874–1963, U.S. poet.

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Frost ¹ British  

/ frɒst /

noun

1. Sir David ( Paradine ). born 1939, British television presenter and executive, noted esp for political interviews

2. Robert ( Lee ). 1874–1963, US poet, noted for his lyrical verse on country life in New England. His books include A Boy's Will (1913), North of Boston (1914), and New Hampshire (1923)

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frost ² British  

/ frɒst /

noun

1. a white deposit of ice particles, esp one formed on objects out of doors at night See also hoarfrost

2. an atmospheric temperature of below freezing point, characterized by the production of this deposit

3. degrees below freezing point: eight degrees of frost indicates a temperature of either –8°C or 24°F

4. informal something given a cold reception; failure

5. informal coolness of manner

6. the act of freezing

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verb

1. to cover or be covered with frost

2. (tr) to give a frostlike appearance to (glass, etc), as by means of a fine-grained surface

3. (tr) to decorate (cakes, etc) with icing or frosting

4. (tr) to kill or damage (crops, etc) with frost

frost Scientific  

/ frôst /

1. A deposit of tiny, white ice crystals on a surface. Frost forms through sublimation, when water vapor in the air condenses at a temperature below freezing. It gets its white color from tiny air bubbles trapped in the ice crystals.

2. See more at dew point

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unfrost
  verb (used with object)
• frostless
  adjective
• frostlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• frosts
  plural

Participles

• frosting
  present
• frosted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• frost
  simple
• frosts
  simple
• have frosted
  perfect
• has frosted
  perfect
• am frosting
  progressive
• are frosting
  progressive
• is frosting
  progressive
• have been frosting
  perfect progressive
• has been frosting
  perfect progressive

Past

• frosted
  simple
• had frosted
  perfect
• was frosting
  progressive
• were frosting
  progressive
• had been frosting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will frost
  simple
• will have frosted
  perfect
• will be frosting
  progressive
• will have been frosting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of frost

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English frost, forst; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German, Old Norse frost; akin to freeze

Explanation

Frost is a thin, icy coating that forms on very cold, damp nights. During a New England winter, you'll have to scrape frost off your car windshield almost every morning. Frost is made of tiny crystals of ice that appear white and tend to form on windows, the ground, trees, and cars. While frost can be lovely on a window, with its snowflake shapes and patterns, it can also be dangerous for farm crops if it forms unexpectedly early or late in the year. Frost comes directly from the Old English, and it has a Proto-Germanic root.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

frost Frost frosts frosted frosting

"We know what to do for frost or hail, but not wildfires," she said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

The lemon frost morph originated from a spontaneous genetic mutation that appeared during selective breeding in a large colony of leopard geckos.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

You have to believe in what is under the lid, behind the frost, wrapped in parchment, waiting to become itself again.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

Maybe I’ll still be kept warm by my summer odyssey come December, when frost whitens the lawn.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

In a sheltered corner of the glade, Eilonwy found handfuls of small flowers still untouched by the frost.

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander

She has asked to watch the appeal by live video link from her prison, the maximum-security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne's western suburbs.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

Connor’s casting follows recent reports that Samara Weaving has landed the role of Emma Frost in the upcoming “X-Men” film.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

“This removes a hurdle that prevented average taxpayers unfamiliar with complex tax rules for asking for penalty relief,” Frost said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

Those passages are surrounded by secular literature, such as works by Walt Whitman, Charles Dickens, Robert Frost, George Orwell and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026

“Who wants to be good if he has to be hungry too?” said Richard Frost.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck

This combination of weather types - with a lack of overnight frosts - has meant an early bloom of spring flowers, especially in southern England.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026

This means we are seeing less snow and fewer frosts - in fact we now get around four weeks less ground frost than we did half a century ago.

From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026

These low temperatures with widespread overnight frosts are expected to continue well into next week.

From BBC ● Jan. 1, 2026

Elsewhere across the UK there will be widespread overnight frosts and an increasing risk of snow showers affecting parts of Northern Ireland, northern England and North Wales by the end of this week.

From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2025

That’s a perfectly safe strategy in Mexico’s mild climate, but in Canada a disastrous one that would guarantee the plant’s being killed by autumn frosts before it had produced any mature corn cobs.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

He went to the toilet, which is when he saw a flicker of orange through the frosted glass of the window.

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

So, the mirrors were frosted, triggering a debate – not just about space, but also Singapore's fixation with orderliness, the low bar for people to complain, and its many, many rules.

From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026

“You couldn’t see the fine details, but you could see everything else,” said Denise Milano Sprung of the frosted bathroom door of the hotel room she shared with her husband at the Calgary Airport Marriott.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026

On a Wednesday evening in August, Celeste Perkins walked into El Atacor #1 in Cypress Park holding a towering three-tiered cake, frosted in American buttercream and airbrushed in oversaturated hues of red, green and blue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2025

So they came: friends, neighbours, bringing sugar cane and frosted sugar and sticks of striped candy for the new baby.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

When frosting a cake, consider piping in swirls rather than straight lines for a tipsy Victorian look.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

“You can put your effort into glorifying your cake with frosting, dreaming up an exciting trim that puts your own label on it.”

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2026

Everything else is just frosting on the cake.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 30, 2026

She punctuates the quip by taking a big bite, leaving a glob of frosting on her face.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2026

On it, written in yellow on a sea of fudgy frosting, were these words: “Open a Book and Open Your Mind.”

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein