The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
FROSTING
frosting, icing, ice
(noun) a flavored sugar topping used to coat and decorate cakes
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
frosting (countable and uncountable, plural frostings)
A sugary coating for cakes and other baked goods.
A layer of frost.
The theft of a car while it is left unattended, especially when its engine is left running in the winter to defrost the car.
Usage notes
• The plural form is used for multiple varieties of frosting; a single type of frosting is itself uncountable.
Synonyms
• icing
Verb
frosting
present participle of frost
Source: Wiktionary
Frost"ing, n.
1. A composition of sugar and beaten egg, used to cover or ornament cake, pudding, etc.
2. A lusterless finish of metal or glass; the process of producing such a finish.
FROST
Frost, n. Etym: [OE. frost, forst, AS. forst, frost. fr. freósan to freeze; akin to D. varst, G., OHG., Icel., Dan., & Sw. frost. *18. See Freeze, v. i.]
1. The act of freezing; -- applied chiefly to the congelation of water; congelation of fluids.
2. The state or temperature of the air which occasions congelation, or the freezing of water; severe cold or freezing weather. The third bay comes a frost, a killing frost. Shak.
3. Frozen dew; -- called also hoarfrost or white frost. He scattereth the frost like ashes. Ps. cxlvii. 16.
4. Coldness or insensibility; severity or rigidity of character. [R.] It was of those moments of intense feeling when the frost of the Scottish people melts like a snow wreath. Sir W. Scott. Black frost, cold so intense as to freeze vegetation and cause it to turn black, without the formation of hoarfrost.
– Frost bearer (Physics), a philosophical instrument illustrating the freezing of water in a vacuum; a cryophous.
– Frost grape (Bot.), an American grape, with very small, acid berries.
– Frost lamp, a lamp placed below the oil tube of an Argand lamp to keep the oil limpid on cold nights; -- used especially in lighthouses. Knight.
– Frost nail, a nail with a sharp head driven into a horse's shoe to keen him from slipping.
– Frost smoke, an appearance resembling smoke, caused by congelation of vapor in the atmosphere in time of severe cold. The brig and the ice round her are covered by a strange black obscurity: it is the frost smoke of arctic winters. Kane.
– Frost valve, a valve to drain the portion of a pipe, hydrant, pump, etc., where water would be liable to freeze.
– Jack Frost, a popular personification of frost.
Frost, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Frostted; p. pr. & vb. n. Frosting.]
1. To injure by frost; to freeze, as plants.
2. To cover with hoarfrost; to produce a surface resembling frost upon, as upon cake, metals, or glass. While with a hoary light she frosts the ground. Wordsworth.
3. To roughen or sharpen, as the nail heads or calks of horseshoes, so as to fit them for frosty weather.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
1 June 2025
BACKFIRE
(verb) come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect; “Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble”; “the political movie backlashed on the Democrats”
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