frostwork

American  

[frawst-wurk, frost-] / ˈfrɔstˌwɜrk, ˈfrɒst- /

noun

1. the delicate tracery formed by frost, especially on glass.

2. similar ornamentation, as on metal.

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frostwork British  

/ ˈfrɒstˌwɜːk /

noun

1. the patterns made by frost on glass, metal, etc

2. similar artificial ornamentation

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Etymology

Origin of frostwork

First recorded in 1640–50; frost + work

Example Sentences

Such a Brother, with such a Life opening around him, like a blooming garden where he was to labor and gather, all vanished suddenly like frostwork, and hidden from your eye!

From The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1834-1872, Vol. I by Carlyle, Thomas

The small panes of his window were so obscured by frostwork that he did not attempt to look through the glass, but opened his door.

From What Necessity Knows by Dougall, Lily

Now, being irrevocably awake, you peep through the half-drawn window-curtain, and observe that the glass is ornamented with fanciful devices in frostwork, and that each pane presents something like a frozen dream.

From The Haunted Mind (From "Twice Told Tales") by Hawthorne, Nathaniel

All is contained in that one sob, in which the whole frostwork of these weary months breaks up and rolls away, swept before the strong flood.

From The Life of David As Reflected in His Psalms by Maclaren, Alexander

She rustled in all her bravery of curls and frills, pinkings and quillings,—a marvellous specimen of Parisian frostwork, without one breath of reason or philosophy or conscience to melt it.

From Pink and White Tyranny A Society Novel by Stowe, Harriet Beecher