defrostv.
/diːˈfrɒst/ transitive. To unfreeze, remove the frost from; spec. (a) to unfreeze (frozen meat or other provisions); (b) to clear the frost from (e.g. the interior of a refrigerator, the windscreen of a motor vehicle or aircraft). Also absol. and reflexive; occasionally intransitive, to become unfrozen.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > heat or make hot [verb (transitive)] > unfreeze
unfreeze1598
unfrost1611
thawa1616
defreeze1922
de-ice1935
defrost1937
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > be hot [verb (intransitive)] > become unfrozen
uncongeal1593
thaw1596
unfreeze1662
defrost1957
1937 ‘N. Blake’ There's Trouble Brewing ix. 166 Nigel was standing near the door, his back to one of the refrigerators. ‘Doesn't seem so cold as when I was here last.’ ‘No, sir,’ said Carruthers. ‘We're defrosting now.’
1953 C. M. Kornbluth Syndic (1964) xix. 201 He defrosted some hamburger, fried it and ate it.
1957 Daily Mail 5 Sept. 11/5 The vegetables..now defrost in the car on the way from the home to the picnic-ground.
1957 Economist 9 Nov. 499/2 The heater provides a generous flow of warm air... The result is extremely efficient demisting and defrosting.
1958 Listener 17 July 81/1 The refrigerator that defrosts itself.
1960 Housewife Apr. 114/1 Simply defrost a packet of frozen chicken joints.
1970 Daily Tel. 28 Apr. 17 Both refrigerator and deep-freezer de-frost themselves continuously and automatically.
Derivatives
deˈfrosted adj.
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1895 Daily News 29 May 8/4 It was believed that Queensland defrosted beef could be brought into formidable competition with American chilled.
1908 Daily Chron. 22 Oct. 8/5 The Judge: What did you provide Trinity College with? Witness: A lot of defrosted mutton, sir.
1965 ‘J. Christopher’ Wrinkle in Skin iv. 46 They had a mess of defrosted strawberries afterwards.
deˈfrosting n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > [noun] > unfreezing
defrosting1895
defreezing1901
de-icing1935
1895 Australasian Pastoralists' Rev. 15 Aug. p. viii The difficulties hitherto attaching to the defrosting of Beef and Mutton.
1897 Yearbk. U.S. Dept. Agric. 1896 26 Each year there is visible improvement in the methods of defrosting meats in European markets.
1924 Glasgow Herald 19 Aug. 7 The electrical defrosting process experiments which were recently undertaken in Melbourne.
1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 232/2 An automatic de-frosting mechanism is incorporated in some machines.
1970 Which? Sept. 283/2 Most manufacturers recommend defrosting once a year.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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