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

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.

From 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.

From Salon

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

From Salon

Even the logo jumps out like a birthday cake topper, with the number “70” alternately blocky and rounded as if constructed out of frosting.

From Los Angeles Times

Like a cream cheese frosting slathered onto a tasty but conventional chocolate cake, the unexpected flourishes are the best part of this delicious treat.

From Salon

Related Words

• glaze