frosting

American  

[fraw-sting, fros-ting] / ˈfrɔ stɪŋ, ˈfrɒs tɪŋ /

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.

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idioms

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

frosting British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• nonfrosting adjective

Etymology

Origin of frosting

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

Example Sentences

The cake had a butterscotch frosting, which was brown and thus “weird.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“Like how Heidi from Mrs. Murphy’s class and her family go to Hawaii?” he asked, licking frosting off his fingertips.

From Literature

Her favorite treat was a chocolate cupcake but whenever she started licking the frosting or crumbs off the wrapper, Mrs. Palmer said it wasn’t polite to lick the wrapper, and made her stop.

From Literature

Everything else is just frosting on the cake.

From MarketWatch

Boo carries dirty glasses to the kitchen, Ana and I wipe the table, and CPU licks frosting off the floor.

From Literature

Related Words

• glaze