FROSTS
Noun
frosts
plural of frost
Verb
frosts
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of frost
Source: Wiktionary
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