frosting

[fraw-sting, fros-ting]

noun

1. a sweet mixture, cooked or uncooked, for coating or filling cakes, cookies, and the like; icing.

2. a dull or lusterless finish, as on metal or glass.

3. a process of highlighting the hair by bleaching selected strands.

4. a material used for decorative work, as signs, displays, etc., made from coarse flakes of powdered glass.

frosting

/ ˈfrɒstɪŋ /

noun

1. a soft icing based on sugar and egg whites

2. Also called: icing. a sugar preparation, variously flavoured and coloured, for coating and decorating cakes, biscuits, etc

3. a rough or matt finish on glass, silver, etc

4. slang,  the practice of stealing a car while the owner has left it idling to defrost the windows and heat the engine

Other Word Forms

• nonfrosting adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of frosting¹

First recorded in 1610–20; frost + -ing ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. the frosting on the cake, something added to make a thing better or more desirable. Also icing on the cake.

Example Sentences

Walmart said its ingredient changes will affect products such as sports drinks, cake frosting and cheese dip, with some changes already showing up on its shelves.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

It features apples in three forms: a tender, applesauce-sweetened cake; diced, spiced roasted apples; and a tangy, fragrant apple butter–cream cheese frosting.

Read more on Salon

When Winslet allows the dam surrounding Mare’s despair to crack a little, frosting the blank spaces between lines of dialogue with pure aching emotion, tearing your eyes away is impossible.

Read more on Salon

Folding in a bit of mascarpone or Greek yogurt adds a subtle tang and makes the whipped cream behave like frosting in a better mood.

Read more on Salon

There’s Cereal Milk Cake, filled with cereal milk cheesecake mousse and frosted in a cereal milk frosting.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• glaze