frostbite
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
-
destruction of tissues, esp those of the fingers, ears, toes, and nose, by freezing, characterized by tingling, blister formation, and gangrene
-
a type of small sailing dinghy
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of frostbite
Explanation
People get frostbite when their skin is exposed to extremely cold temperatures for long enough that their tissue is damaged. High altitude hikers in snowy conditions are vulnerable to frostbite. If your friend scolds you for not wearing your gloves on a bitterly cold day, she's not just giving you a hard time — she might be worried that you'll get frostbite on your fingers. Severe frostbite results in dead tissue and skin, and even the amputation of fingers or toes. Frostbitten came before frostbite, from the idea that your painfully cold fingers have been bitten by frost.
Vocabulary lists containing frostbite
Wintry Words
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Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
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Chill Out! Synonyms for "Cold"
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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:
After hiding in a woodland near Carmarthen for three days without food or water, McKenna was arrested at Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, as he awaited medical treatment for suspected frostbite.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
As Thrall went down, he found a Polish climber who was struggling after running out of supplementary oxygen and had suffered frostbite.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
"Or do I help my fellow climber, who's got no oxygen, frostbite in his fingers, and obviously you're never far off hypothermia up there?"
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
It’s New Year’s Eve glitter, minus the frostbite.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Jack’s have been mild compared with those of many others—circulation problems in his feet because of repeated frostbite, and arthritis and rheumatism in his back.
From "Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps" by Andrea Warren
"We are managing his frostbites, cold injuries, hydration and trauma. He is being further evaluated and will be in our ICU."
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Second-and third-degree frostbites are treated like burns; sometimes victims are hospitalized.
From Time Magazine Archive
The living wildlings Jon sent off to have their wounds and frostbites tended.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
We slept hour after hour, ate a little, tended our frostbites, inflammations, and bruises, mindspoke, slept again.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
So bitter was the cold that, though thus actively employed, the noses and cheeks of all the men were white by frostbites.
From Notable Voyagers From Columbus to Nordenskiold by Kingston, William Henry Giles
In other words, “North Country” seems to be a waxing philosophical in the “True Detective” tradition, but the end-of-the-earth environs inspire thoughts that are tied more to Indigenous myths and frostbit hallucinations.
From New York Times ● Jan. 21, 2024
“The Cro-Magnon” look, he calls it — wide forehead, frostbit eyes, a chin so square it must make mathematicians swoon.
From New York Times ● Jun. 14, 2018
His frostbit ears are still sensitive today, 50 years later.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 25, 2017
“I didn’t bite you once! You can keep your underdrawers. Gawdalmighty, them pants is wet, ain’t they? You ain’t frostbit, are you?”
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Next morning the ends of my toes were so frostbit by the extreme cold of the country, that I could no longer go barefooted.
It appears that frostbiting has not changed much in 340 years.
From Time Magazine Archive
To the roaring fire set, frostbiting would seem a study in self-torture.
From Time Magazine Archive
"There are lots of fancy ideas about the motivation for starting frostbiting," says Knapp.
From Time Magazine Archive
We started facing a very keen, frostbiting wind.
From Scott's Last Expedition Volume I by Scott, Robert Falcon
Although frostbitten and thoroughly spent, Hillary Dawa could still sit upright and talk to those who found him, before he was airlifted to a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
A minor misstep or bout of ill-preparation comes with dire consequences, from the slightest of ankle sprains to bygone absent frostbitten fingers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
“When you get down to people who get really frostbitten and really at risk of losing digits, it’s pretty uncommon,” Dr. Stockbridge said.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2024
One particular tale from “Chinese Menu” tells of how dumplings once apparently cured a village’s frostbitten ears.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2024
On a frostbitten hill in the distance, men on horses.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
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.
