Dictionary

frostwork en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *prews- Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *prustós Proto-Germanic *frustaz Proto-West Germanic *frost Old English frost Middle English frost English frost English -work English frostwork From frost + -work.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Any naturally occurring intricate pattern of ice crystals.
   • Frostwork keeps its place on the window within three feet of the stove all day in my chamber. 1888, H. Thoreau, Winter: From the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, page 343:
2. (countable, uncountable) Any pattern that resembles a frost formation.
   • More delicate frostwork, this time in the form of hairlike needles of calcite, occurs near the Pearly Gates. Here, as in all caves under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, you are asked not to touch or handle the cave formations. 1968, William Henry Matthews, A guide to the national parks: their landscape and geology, page 236:

Forms