defrost
Americanverb (used with object)
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defrosts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
defrosted,
past participle, past
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defrosting
present participle
-
to remove the frost or ice from.
to defrost a refrigerator; to defrost the windshield of a car.
-
to thaw or partially thaw (frozen food).
verb (used without object)
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defrosts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
defrosted,
past participle, past
-
defrosting
present participle
-
to become free of ice or frost.
The refrigerator defrosted quickly.
-
to thaw, as frozen food.
The meat took two hours to defrost.
verb
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to make or become free of frost or ice
-
to thaw, esp through removal from a refrigerator
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
defrostsimple
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defrostssimple
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have defrostedperfect
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has defrostedperfect
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am defrostingprogressive
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are defrostingprogressive
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is defrostingprogressive
-
have been defrostingperfect progressive
-
has been defrostingperfect progressive
Past
-
defrostedsimple
-
had defrostedperfect
-
was defrostingprogressive
-
were defrostingprogressive
-
had been defrostingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of defrost
Explanation
To defrost something is to thaw it, or bring it from a state of being frozen to room temperature. You can defrost frozen shrimp by running them under cool water for several minutes. You have to defrost frozen food before you can eat it, and often before you can properly cook it. You might also need to defrost your icy windshield in the winter before you can drive your car. The word defrost comes from the Old English forst — before the 15th century, the words forst and frost were used interchangeably. When it's combined with de-, "off, away, or undo," it means "free of ice or frost."
Vocabulary lists containing defrost
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: de-
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I have to put it in the fridge to defrost, but you can’t put it there too far in advance” or the yogurt will go bad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Monday morning felt noticeably different for commuters, with milder conditions meaning there was no need to scrape or defrost vehicles for the first time this year.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026
Just make sure to defrost your lobster in the fridge overnight before coating it in mayo or slathering it in hot, melted butter.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2024
Transport officials have deployed thousands of employees to shovel snow and defrost railways and roads.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
The chops I had put out to defrost over two months ago were still icy.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
If you are planning to freeze some of the stock, leave an inch or two of room at the top so that the stock has room to expand as it freezes and then defrosts.
From Salon ● May 24, 2022
She defrosts them in the refrigerator and then uses them to make fried eggs, egg sandwiches and in baking.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 22, 2022
About 10% of the planet’s land mass is covered with glacial ice, and as the world defrosts, ancient creatures great and small are being unburied as well.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2021
As the frozen fish defrosts under the hot Kenyan sun, fishmonger Mechak Juma prefers not to tell his customers that it has come all the way from China.
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2019
He buys quarts of soup, which he freezes and defrosts for lunch.
From New York Times ● Jul. 18, 2012
Once the meat is defrosted, cook it immediately.
From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2024
Elsewhere, Bublé has been defrosted for Christmas, and is the star of Asda's ad this year.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2023
Business organisations said hours-long outages had caused supermarkets and restaurants to throw away food stock worth thousands of euros as fridges defrosted.
From Reuters ● Jul. 25, 2023
I dumped a little too much red sauce from an open jar on a half-cup of leftover macaroni; adding a defrosted sliced chicken sausage did not help.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 19, 2023
The large rucksack had defrosted near the fire and Niels brought it into the kitchen.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
He’s just taken a morning stroll in New York with his girlfriend, Dominican architect Ana Amelia Batlle Cabral, and is still defrosting from the wintry chill; he’ll be fully warmed up upon landing in California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
The application External link shows Zoox is looking for release from certain requirements ranging from occupant crash protection to windshield wiping and defrosting.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
Just like Christmas creep in the West – with Mariah Carey defrosting on Nov. 1 and yuletide merchandise sold side-by-side with Halloween goods – Vietnam experiences New Year’s creep.
From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2025
What was once considered permanently frozen, stable ground is now defrosting, shifting and causing tremendous damage.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 21, 2024
“Oh, right. Hey, shouldn’t the turkey be defrosting? I’m in the kitchen, and I don’t see a turkey.”
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
