frost line
Britishnoun
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the deepest point in the ground to which frost will penetrate
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the limit towards the equator beyond which frosts do not occur
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In regions where there is no permafrost, the maximum depth to which frost penetrates the ground in the winter.
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The lower limit of permafrost.
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In tropical regions, the elevation below which frost never occurs.
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.
The results provide the first clear evidence that mini-Neptunes can form beyond a star's "frost line," the distance at which temperatures are low enough for water to freeze into ice.
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2026
The refuges must be deep enough to extend below the frost line, while also being sheltered from wind, rain and dripping snowmelt.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 6, 2017
About 300 homes are without water and the number is growing as the frost line penetrates deeper in the ground, he said.
From Reuters ● Feb. 25, 2015
What is the frost line, and what does it help to explain?5.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Miyax dug to the frost line, then whacked at the ice until, many hours later, she had chopped three feet into it.
From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George
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.
