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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

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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

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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

A metal bed with a refrigeration system that maintained a continuous layer of frost over its surface was placed at its center.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Daytime highs will be close to the late September average in most regions but some cold nights are expected with frost possible in a few locations on Thursday morning.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

The fourth season of “Ted Lasso” doesn’t entirely frost those bad vibes with its happiness and hopium.

From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Then Loki wrapped the falcon cloak tightly about himself and, in falcon form, flapped his wings and rose, faster even than an eagle, and was gone, flying north, toward the lands of the frost giants.

From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman

Robert Frost wrote that “nothing gold can stay,” and certainly this California gold didn’t hang around for very long.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

"The storms that aligned already looked different about a day beforehand," said Fischer, who also is a core faculty member of the Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Osborne also said she is treated as "one of the lads" in the weighing room, and has never experienced sexism and misogyny unlike other female jockeys, including Bryony Frost.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

With John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost as Hagrid and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, the cast is just as formidable and star-studded as the films.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Out on the stairs, Mr. Frost led the way.

From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman

Further night frosts are expected in places during the week ahead.

From BBC ● May 9, 2026

While it is expected to be a little too breezy for widespread overnight frosts, some prone locations may dip to freezing where skies clear between weather fronts.

From BBC ● Mar. 9, 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

As the growing season progresses, the plant puffs itself into a roughly spherical shape, until the first frosts, when it snaps off its stalk and waits to be blown across the landscape.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025

A series of hard frosts had killed the crops they’d planted afterward, leaving only mud and ash and wilted, rotting stalks.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

While they were at it, what about a pop that looked and tasted like a frosted rainbow cake?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

If you’re not in the mood for a hulking sirloin — and if just creamed spinach and a frosted martini feel like insufficient ballast — skip the burger.

From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026

Until 1 January, when they showed up as usual only to find the mirrors frosted.

From BBC ● Mar. 7, 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

The members of the Grounds and Buildings Committee arrived at two o’clock and filled the library with the scent of cigars and frosted wool.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Dubbed dot cakes, they start with boxed cake mix to make the base and double down on that nostalgic flavor with store-bought frosting and sprinkles.

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2026

It was gooey, soft and slathered in a classic tangy cream cheese frosting.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

The cake had a butterscotch frosting, which was brown and thus “weird.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

Everything else is just frosting on the cake.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 30, 2026

As Cady swooped the last curl of peanut butter frosting onto the two-tiered peanut butter cake, she had a whole hour before she and Toby needed to leave for the competition.

From "A Tangle of Knots" by Lisa Graff

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