black frost

American  

noun

1. intense cold without hoarfrost, causing vegetation to turn black.

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black frost British  

noun

1. a frost without snow or rime that is severe enough to blacken vegetation

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Etymology

Origin of black frost

First recorded in 1700–10

Example Sentences

White and black frost damage in the Breedekloof, Robertson and Worcester regions could also hurt the 2018 harvest.

From Reuters

White and black frost damage in the Breedekloof, Robertson and Worcester regions could also hurt the 2018 harvest.

From Reuters

A dull grey expanse of leaden cloud shut out the blue heaven, a hard black frost pinched up the ground, the blades of grass stood stiff and rugged on the frozen soil, and vague grey mists lay in all the hollows of the ground.

From Project Gutenberg

Above in the blue a belated wild-goose was winging its hasty way to some warmer clime; for there was something more than a hint of hard, black frost in the morning air.

From Project Gutenberg

I doubt if many people would risk leaving London between five and six in a climate like ours, where you cannot be quite sure that between five and eleven heavy snow may not have fallen, or that the damp in one county is not hard black frost in the next.

From Project Gutenberg