hoarfrost
1
9.3
- noun
- /ˈhɔːrˌfrɔːst/
- UK
:
escarcha
- There were already frosts at night; each morning, the handrail and the roof of the neighbor's shed were covered with hoarfrost.
- covered with hoarfrost
Hearken heifer, hoarfrost, denizens of the crag Willow, the wisp.
- Hearken heifer, hoarfrost, denizens of the crag Willow, the wisp.
Examples
-
One night in January, temperatures at my camp on the Lewis River in Yellowstone National Park fell to -54 degrees F, the tenth night in a row the thermometer had dropped below the -40 degrees F mark, and saucer-sized hoarfrost crystals lined the river's edge.
Academic text (1991) -
Hoarfrost thickly rimed every tree and bush.
Fiction book (1999) -
The fog was thick again, and Wellaway's spars and lines were crusted with white hoarfrost, making her skeleton look like carved ivory.
Fiction book (1994) -
With his eyelids drawn close together, Humphrey peered through his glasses at the maple and oak-covered hill beyond the hoarfrost that lay on the icy swamp.
Fiction book (1992) -
The trees were covered in a beautiful layer of hoarfrost after the freezing night.
-
As I walked through the field, I noticed the delicate hoarfrost glistening in the morning light.
-
In winter, hoarfrost often forms on the grass, creating a scenic white carpet on the ground.
Synonyms
54
1.0
A thin layer of ice crystals on surfaces from very cold weather
2
9.9
A white frost of ice crystals that forms on plants and surfaces in cold weather
1
9.6
A white layer of frozen water that forms on cold surfaces
How Thick
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word hoarfrost comes from hoar meaning 'white or gray like old hair' and frost meaning 'frozen water', and it shares the same root as hoary. It names the thin, white ice crystals that look like 'white hair' on plants and windows, so the word now means that fine icy covering you see on cold mornings.