▪ I. ˈfrost-ˌbite, n.
‘The inflamed or gangrenous condition of the skin and adjacent parts produced by exposure to severe cold. The milder forms constitute chilblain; the severe form, or gangrene, may be either dry or moist, usually the latter’ (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1885).
| 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 57 Inflammation accompanying the state which is usually denominated frost-bite. 1823 Scoresby Jrnl. Whale Fishery 44 Some of the sailors suffered considerably from partial frost-bites. 1876 A. Arnold in Contemp. Rev. June 42 One does not look for frostbite in Ispahan. |
▪ II. ˈfrost-ˌbite, v.
Also 7 frost-bit.
trans. † To injure with intense cold, also fig.; to invigorate by exposure to the frost (obs.); to get (oneself or one's limbs) frost-bitten.
| 1611 Coryat's Crudities Panegyr. Verses G iij b, Emilia faire thou didst frost-bit, And shee inflamed thy melting wit. 1667 Pepys Diary 2 Jan., My wife up, and with Mrs. Pen to walk in the fields to frost-bite themselves. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxix. 403 Morton has frost-bitten both his heels. |
b. fig. To whiten.
| a 1618 J. Davies Wittes Pilgrim. xcvii. Wks. (Grosart) 19 Many winters haue Frost-bit my Haires. |
So frost-biting vbl. n.; frost-biting ppl. a., intensely cold. lit. and fig.
| 1593 Tell-Troth's N.Y. Gift 23 His frost-biting words should nippe her. 1633 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 28 The graine cast into the earth, after a frost-biting, comes up the fairer. 1635 L. Foxe N.W. Foxe 171 Such as had been upon those Frost-biting voyages. 1711 Swift Lett. (1767) III. 243 Pray walk when the frost comes, young ladies, go a frost-biting. 1817–8 Cobbett Resid. U.S. (1822) 202 If the cold be such as to produce danger of frost-biting, you must take care not to drink strong liquors. 1895 C. Markham in Westm. Gaz. 5 Sept. 7/1 The only effect of this was to stop the circulation and make frost-biting all the easier. |