Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
thawing

thawing

5 2.9
Frozen things gradually become liquid or soft because they get warmer
  • noun
  • /θɔːɪŋ/
translation icon : descongelamiento
  • The internet has a million pages that list thawing times per pound.
  • freezing and thawing
  • thawing of permafrost

When you did so, the residue shifted from frozen to thawing to fluidity.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • In this scenario, the thawing ultimately leads to positive feedback.

    Academic text (2008)

  • When preparing dinner, thawing the ice cubes under warm water made it easy to fill the pitcher quickly.

  • So there is a thawing occurring.

  • The effects of thawing will also extend far beyond the Arctic.

  • I crawled on my knees over the thawing ground and dropped myself in the shadow of the trees.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Repeated freezing and thawing threaten the fragments of soft rock.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Every time you open the door, room-temperature air enters and speeds the thawing process.

    Blog text (13)

  • Surveying their watershed, Schuur and his crew selected three areas of permafrost that represented fairly old thawing, newer collapses, and relatively undisturbed tundra.

    Academic text (2008)

  • To bake a cake, start by thawing the frozen batter at room temperature until it becomes soft.

  • Before grilling the steak, make sure that proper thawing has taken place to enhance its flavor.

Synonyms

melting
vsthawing
72 1.1

A process where a solid turns into a liquid because of heat

refers to general warming that softens frozen matter, not only heat-induced change
to thaw
vsthawing
65 1.1

To become soft and melt after being frozen or make something melt

is the process of warming that makes frozen things soft or liquid
melt
vsthawing
37 1.0

The change from a solid to a liquid when heated

focuses on warming after freezing rather than any heat-driven phase change
liquation
vsthawing
  • Specialized
9.9

Turning a solid into a liquid by melting

describes ordinary warming into liquid after freezing rather than technical liquefaction

Antonyms

freezing
79 1.6

A change when a liquid turns into a solid because it gets very cold

How Melted

melting
72 1.1
thawing
5 2.9

Surface Forms

thawing singular
thawings plural

Morphology

thawing = thaw (transparent) = thaw + ing

The noun sense is a regular deverbal gerund/nominalization of 'thaw' formed with '-ing', so the process meaning is directly predictable.

Etymology

The word thawing comes from the old English verb thaw, which meant 'to melt' or 'become warm'. So thawing is the process of frozen things turning soft or liquid again as they warm.