frosted, ppl. a.
(ˈfrɒstɪd, -ɔː-)
[f. frost n. and v. + -ed.]
1. Injured by frost, frozen, frost-bitten.
| 1807 Wilkinson in Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) ii. App. 29 Two more of my men got badly frosted. 1871 Blackie Four Phases i. 13 Socrates..trod the frosted ground with his bare feet. 1884 Roe Nat. Ser. Story ii, Why does sudden heat..destroy a frosted plant? 1892 Times (weekly ed.) 2 Feb. 89/3 Slightly frosted wheat is reduced for flour making purposes perhaps 30 per cent. in value, what is called frozen wheat 50 per cent. |
2. Covered (
over) with rime or hoar-frost.
| 1720 Gay Poems (1745) I. 164 Hoary Thames with frosted oziers crownd. 1842 Motley Corr. (1889) I. iv. 115 The trees were frosted all over with silver. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872) I. 9 The windows were already frosted with French breath. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets x. 313 Tall tree⁓heaths that wave their frosted boughs above your head. |
| fig. 1847–8 H. Miller First Impr. ii. 25 Picturesque incidents..frosted over with the romance of history. |
3. Covered with a fine powder or coating resembling rime. Also with
over.
frosted cake: cake covered with concreted sugar or ‘icing’.
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 318 Entering upon the Plains..we found it all frosted with Salt. 1734 Fielding Old Man taught Wisdom Wks. 1874 III. 122 His head is..done all down upon the top with sugar, like a frosted cake. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 128 Its [Fluor's] surface mostly smooth, and frosted over with minute crystals. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Lit. Wks. (Bohn) II. 114 Pope and his school wrote poetry fit to put round a frosted cake. 1887 Lady 20 Jan. 37/1 The younger [lady] was attired in frosted tulle and snowdrops. |
b. spec. in
Zool. and
Bot. Covered with glistening particles, silvery hairs or scales, etc.
| 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 279 Pileus..when fresh gathered, beautifully frosted over with distinct globular pellucid particles. 1829 Loudon Plants 1099 Frosted, covered with glittering particles, as if fine dew had been congealed upon it. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 279 Frosted Sea Orache. |
c. Of the hair: Hoary, white.
| 1645 G. Daniel Poems Wks. 1878 II. 64 'Twould trouble me, when I, with frosted hairs, Should look at what I was. a 1717 Parnell Gift of Poetry Poet. Wks. (1758) 35 Helpless Age with hoary frosted head. |
4. Of glass, silver, etc.: Having a surface roughened or finely granulated so as to resemble a coating of hoar-frost.
| 1689 Lond. Gaz. No. 2429/4 The 5th had a Silver Box and pinn'd Case, long Hours of the Dial Plate, and Frosted. 1711 Ibid. No. 4916/4 A..Cloth Suit trim'd with frosted Buttons. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §211 Being of a dead frosted surface on breaking. 1825 T. Cosnett Footman's Directory 31 The parts [of silver salvers, etc.] which are rough, or what is called frosted. 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 156 A large jug..between two frosted tumblers. 1883 Hardwick's Photogr. Chem. (ed. Taylor) 123 The Salts of Iron..produce a sparkling precipitate, resembling what is termed frosted silver. 1889 Times (weekly ed.) 20 Dec. 7/4 This office had frosted glass windows. |
5. Made to resemble rough ice:
a. Arch. Resembling a cluster of icicles or ice formed by irregular drops of water.
| 1790 W. Wrighte Grotesque Archit. 7 The arcades to be ice or frosted work. 1859 Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Frosted, a species of rustic-work, imitative of ice formed by irregular drops of water. 1868 G. Stephens Runic Mon. II. 507 The single lines slightly roped or twisted or frosted, or whatever we may call it. |
b. frosted glass: a kind of Venetian glass (see
quot.).
| 1849 A. Pellatt Curios. Glass-making 116 Frosted glass..has irregularly veined, marble-like projecting dislocations, with intervening fissures. Ibid. 139 Fig. 2 Ancient Venetian frosted vase..The satyr heads have been impressed..after the vase was frosted. The frosting manipulation and the Vitro di Trino are explained at pages 113 and 114. |