▪ I. thaw, n.
(θɔː)
Also β. 5 thowe, 5– thow (now north. dial. and Sc.).
[f. thaw v.: cf. ON. þá thawed ground; also ON. þeyr, ONorw. þ{obar}yr, Sw. tö, Da. t{obar} thaw; also Du. dooi thaw.]
1. The melting of ice and snow after a frost; the condition of the weather caused by the rise of temperature above the freezing point.
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 586/9 Gelicidium, thawe. a 1552 Leland Itin. V. 68 The Lake of Brecnok ons frosen over, and than in a Thaue breking maketh marvelus Noise. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 441 Vpon a sodaine thawe, the floodes agayne encreace. 1634–5 Laud Diary Wks. 1853 III. 223 The Thames was frozen over,..A mighty flood at the thaw. 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 349 It becomes so furious when swell'd by the Thaws of the Snow. 1726–46 Thomson Winter 990 The frost resolves into a trickling thaw. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 142 By heavy rainfall, or by rapid thaw of snow. |
| β 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 5079 Newe flodis of þe sodeyn þowe Þe grene mede gan to ouerflowe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 492/1 Thowe, of snowe, or yclys or yce,..degelacio. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. ii, Thick-blawn wreaths of snaw, or blashy thows. 1786 Burns Brigs of Ayr 119 Arous'd by blust'ring winds an spotting thowes; In mony a torrent down his sna-broo rowes. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Thow, thaw. |
2. transf. and fig.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. v. 119 A man of my Kidney..that am as subiect to heate as butter; a man of continuall dissolution, and thaw. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 113 If the Sun of Righteousness will arise upon him, his frozen Heart shall feel a Thaw. 1794 Burns The Auld Man ii, But my white pow, nae kindly thowe Shall melt the snaws of age. 1817 Byron Manfred ii. ii. 202 Now I tremble And feel a strange cold thaw upon my heart. |
b. spec. A becoming less cold, formal, or reserved.
| 1840 M. Edgeworth Let. 30 Dec. (1971) 575 Lord Monteagle seated himself..beside Miss Edgeworth who had..made him rather a drawback stand-off curtsey... He seemed determined there should be a thaw. 1848 Dickens Dombey v, Such temporary indications of a partial thaw that had appeared with her, vanished with her. 1873 Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country iii. 326 That thaw Of rigid disapproval into dew Of sympathy. |
c. Pol. A relaxation of control or restriction; a lessening of harshness, hostility, etc.; spec. that which occurred in the U.S.S.R. after the death of Stalin in 1953.
| 1950 Times 13 June 5/3 The statement on foreign policy is the latest symptom of a thaw in Labour doctrine. 1956 R. Macaulay Towers of Trebizond ii. 19 She had started..working away at Russian visas..some time before the Great Thaw. 1957 Economist 30 Nov. 787/2 When the Polish thaw made emigration again possible, some of these ‘autochthons’ joined the queue. 1969 A. G. Frank Latin Amer. xxi. 338 In the countries that took the Marxist road there was an increase in freedom or a noticeable thaw after a relatively short period of time. 1971 Guardian 13 Sept. 10/1 Krushchev inaugurated the thaw that mitigated some of the harsh intolerance of Stalinist communism. 1981 Times 2 Nov. 8/7 Andrei Voznesensky, arguably Russia's greatest living poet..mirrored the hopes and naivety of the post-Stalin thaw. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as thaw-rain, thaw-time, thaw-water, thaw-wind (cf. G. tauwind); thaw-cold, thaw-cloven, thaw-swamped adjs.
| a 1715 Burnet Own Time ii. an. 1672 (1823) I. 582 In the minute in which they began to march [on the ice], a thaw wind blew very fresh. 1814 Byron in L. Hunt Autobiog. (1850) II. 318, I have been snow-bound and thaw-swamped..for nearly a month. 1819 Shelley Prometh. Unb. ii. iii. 34 A howl Of cataracts from their thaw-cloven ravines. 1820 ― Vision of Sea 36 It splits like the ice when the thaw-breezes blow. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. iii, She gave me one cold parting kiss upon my forehead, like a thaw-drop from the stone porch. 1890 Stevenson Let. to H. James 29 Dec., My theories melt, and..the thaw-waters wash down my writing. 1917 D. H. Lawrence Look! We have come Through! 156 They are the flowers of ice-vivid mortification, thaw-cold, ice-corrupt blossoms. 1947 K. M. Wells Owl Pen Reader (1969) i. 38 He bumped and slithered over the ice the thaw had laid bare. He splashed through thaw water. 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 23 July 926/3 Lush new green and blue sky reflected in the thaw-waters. |
▪ II. thaw, v.
(θɔː)
Forms: 1 þawian, (4 þewe), 5–6 thawe, 6 thau, 6– thaw. β. 4 þowe, thoue, 4–5 thowe, 5– thow (now north. dial. and Sc.). pa. tense and pa. pple. thawed (dial. thowed, pa. tense also thew); pa. pple. also 8–9 thawn.
[OE. þawian, ME. þawen; also ME. thōwe; cognate with OFris. *thâia (:—*þawian), whence WFris. teije, NFris. tuai; OLG. *þawian, whence MLG. doien, LG. däuen (Dähnert), Du. dooien, EFris. deien, deuen, doien; OHG. douwen, dęwen (cf. mod.Ger. verdauen to digest), ON. þeyja (:—*þauja), ONorw. þ{obar}ya, Sw. töa, Da. t{obar}e. The late ME. and Sc. thōwe does not answer to OE. þawian, but seems to require *þówan or *þáwan, unrecorded. Ulterior history obscure.]
1. a. trans. To reduce (a frozen substance, as ice or snow) to a liquid state by raising its temperature above the freezing point; to melt (a frozen liquid). Also thaw out (orig. U.S.).
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 274 Se wind [Zephirus] towyrpð and ðawað ælcne winter. 1530 Palsgr. 755/1 Sette the potte to the fyre to thawe the water. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. i. 5 Where Phœbus fire scarce thawes the ysicles. 1625 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. ii. v. (1635) 79 Riuers..by a remission of the cold are thawed. a 1704 T. Brown Lond. & Lacedem. Oracles Wks. 1709 III. iii. 138 After the Snow is thawn. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 349 Mr. Bailly will sooner thaw the eternal ice of his atlantic regions, than restore the central heat to Paris. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 64 Until the warmth of summer returns to thaw it [the snow]. |
| β c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 53 They [letters] were almost of thowed so That of the lettres oon or two Was molte away of euery name. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 492/1 Thowyn or meltyn, as snowe and other lyke, resolvo. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 46 To thow the pypes and schokles of yce. 1894 A. Reid Songs Heatherl. 107 Storms that time had thowed. |
b. fig.
| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 200 Iulia that I loue, (That I did loue, for now my loue is thaw'd..like a waxen Image 'gainst a fire..). 1615 Sir W. Mure Misc. Poems viii. 43 Lat beuties beames then thau away..The ycinesse of loues delay. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. iii. iii. Prol., To whisper out his melting flame, And thow his lassie's breast. 1785 M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) II. 228 This cold snowy winter has considerably cooled my zeal, but when I get thawed out, in the spring, perhaps it may return. 1821 Shelley Adonais i, O, weep for Adonais! though our tears Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head! |
2. a. intr. Of ice, snow, or other substance: To pass from a frozen to a liquid or semi-liquid state; to melt under the influence of warmth: esp. by rise of temperature after frost. Also thaw out (orig. U.S.).
| c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 147 Après gelé vent remoyl [gloss] thowyng. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 453 Many brugges..were i-broke of þe þowynge [v.r. þewinge] of þe yse. 1530 Palsgr. 755/1, I thawe, as snowe or yce dothe for heate. 1552 Huloet, Thawe as yse dothe, egelidor. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 628 As often as the Yce thereon doth thaw. 1656 Manasseh ben Israel Vind. Jud. 9 The pond thawd. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 140 Abundance of Snow; which thawing in the heat of Summer [etc.]. 1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West I. 33 When vessels in their winter voyages..become coated with ice,..they seek the genial warmth of this region to ‘thaw out’. 1880 Haughton Phys. Geog. iv. 195 The water freezes in November and thaws in May. 1887 I. R. Lady's Ranche Life Montana 33 Before I can begin to write this letter the ink must be put down by the fire to thaw out, as it is frozen solid. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 130 Oh that this too too solid Flesh, would melt, Thaw, and resolue it selfe into a Dew. 1849 Miss Mulock Ogilvies xxix, He..thawed into positive enthusiasm beneath the sunshine of her influence. 1865 Swinburne Atalanta 2104, I would that as water My life's blood had thawn. 1905 A. C. Benson Upton Lett. (1906) 293 The dreariness of my heart thawed and melted into peace and calm. |
3. impers. it thaws: said of the cessation of a frost, when the ice, snow, etc. begin to melt.
| c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 160 Ore gele, freset; Ore remet, thouet. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 665/2 Degelat, thowes. 1530 Palsgr. 755/1 It thaweth a pace. 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4507/3 This Morning it began to thaw. Mod. The frost seems to be giving way; I expect it will thaw before night. |
4. a. trans. To free from the physical effect of frost; to unfreeze; said usually in reference to a non-liquid substance rigid with frost, also to a person or animal affected by extreme cold.
| 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 9 My very lippes might freeze to my teeth,..ere I should come by a fire to thaw me. 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 48 The frozen Bodies will be harmlessly thawed. 1728 Ramsay Anacreontic on Love 21, I..his handies thow'd. 1829 Lytton Devereux v. ii, After I was lodged, thawed, and fed, I fell fast asleep. 1883 W. Aitken Lays 98 (E.D.D.) The whusky thowed their Hielan' bluid. 1887 I. R. Lady's Ranche Life Montana 144 You have to thaw a bit before you can put it in a horse's mouth. |
b. nonce-use. To make limp (anything stiff).
| 1821 Scott Kenilw. xl, Speak..at farther distance, so please you; your breath thaws our ruff. |
5. intr. To become unfrozen; to become flexible or limp by rise of temperature.
| 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 46 Gif ony frosin thing be put athir in the loch or in the riuer, it thowis fra hand. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 122 We found it worse when the Sun was up, and the ground began to Thaw. 1850–6 O. W. Holmes Spring 25 The bog's green harper, thawing from his sleep, Twangs a hoarse note. |
6. fig. a. trans. To soften to sympathy or geniality; to break down coldness and reserve.
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 48 Wee thawde with weeping doo pardon francklye the villeyn. 1677 Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 92 An extraordinary occasion melts and thaws down the natural affections of men. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 102 She is a charming girl, and may be thawed by kindness. 1883 Gilmour Mongols (1884) 201 Tea even fails to thaw completely their reserve. 1889 J. Jefferson Autobiog. xii. (1891) 329 A hopeless endeavor to thaw him out. |
b. intr. Of a person, his feelings, manner, etc.: To become softened or ‘melted’ in feeling; to throw off coldness and reserve; to unbend.
| 1598 Bp. Hall Sat. iv. iv. D j b, He thaw's like Chaucers frosty Ianiuere; And sets a Months minde vpon smyling May. a 1631 Donne Valediction my Name ix, And thou begin'st to thaw towards him for this, May my name step in. 1827 Pollok Course of T. ix. 722 Pride of rank And office, thawed into paternal love. 1900 E. Glyn Visits Eliz. (1906) 18 He.. went on talking in the friendliest way, but I would not thaw. |
7. The verb-stem in combination forming ns., as thaw-house, thaw point.
| 1892 Pall Mall G. 30 Aug. 7/2 Dynamite..is received at the work in a frozen state, and stored in a big magazine. From this receptacle it is taken to the thaw-house as needed. 1902 Daily Chron. 28 May 8/5 When ‘thaw’ points were needed, through which steam was forced into the hard ground, they were improvised out of rifle barrels. |
Hence thawed (θɔːd) ppl. a., warmed so as to melt (as ice), softened; thawed out, also, put out of work or action by a thaw; ˈthawing ppl. a., that thaws, melting.
| 1652 Crashaw Mary Magd. Wks. (1904) 259 Thawing crystall! snowy hills, Still spending, never spent! 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 247 Clefts, from whence the thawed water trickles out. 1800 Henry Epit. Chem. (1808) 37 The temperature of melting snow, or of thawing ice. 1885 Harper's Mag. Dec. 86/2 The now thawed-out and almost genial Miss Lisle. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 19 Jan. 7/2 The thawed-out skaters equalised matters by holding a carnival on wheel skates at the Wandsworth Rink last night. 1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 238 Out of the wet and thawing woods. Ibid. 240 They plunged down the bank, slipping and sliding in the thawed earth. |
▪ III. thaw, þaw, þawe
obs. forms of though.