Thaw

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  thaw \thaw\, v. t.
     To cause (frozen things, as earth, snow, ice) to melt,
     soften, or dissolve.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  thaw \thaw\, n.
     The melting of ice, snow, or other congealed matter; the
     resolution of ice, or the like, into the state of a fluid;
     liquefaction by heat of anything congealed by frost; also, a
     warmth of weather sufficient to melt that which is congealed.
     --Dryden.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  thaw \thaw\ (th[add]), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Thawed} (th[add]d);
     p. pr. & vb. n. {Thawing}.] [AS. [thorn][=a]wian,
     [thorn][=a]wan; akin to D. dovijen, G. tauen, thauen (cf.
     also verdauen to digest, OHG. douwen, firdouwen), Icel.
     [thorn]eyja, Sw. t["o]a, Dan. t["o]e, and perhaps to Gr.
     th`kein to melt. [root]56.]
     1. To melt, dissolve, or become fluid; to soften; -- said of
        that which is frozen; as, the ice thaws.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To become so warm as to melt ice and snow; -- said in
        reference to the weather, and used impersonally.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Fig.: To grow gentle or genial. Compare {cold}[4], a. and
        {hard}[6], a.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  thaw
       n 1: the process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a
            liquid; "the power failure caused a refrigerator melt
            that was a disaster"; "the thawing of a frozen turkey
            takes several hours" [syn: {melt}, {thawing}, {melting}]
       2: warm weather following a freeze; snow and ice melt; "they
          welcomed the spring thaw" [syn: {thawing}, {warming}]
       3: a relaxation or slackening of tensions or reserve; becoming
          less hostile; "the thaw between the United States and
          Russia has led to increased cooperation in world affairs"
       v : become or cause to become soft or liquid; "The sun melted
           the ice"; "the ice thawed"; "the ice cream melted"; "The
           heat melted the wax"; "The giant iceberg dissolved over
           the years during the global warming phase"; "dethaw the
           meat" [syn: {dissolve}, {unfreeze}, {unthaw}, {dethaw}, {melt}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  56 Moby Thesaurus words for "thaw":
     bend, colliquate, cut, decoagulate, decoct, defrost, deliquesce,
     dissolve, fluidify, fluidize, flux, forbear, forgive, fuse,
     fusibility, fusion, give quarter, have mercy upon, have pity,
     heat up, hold in solution, infuse, leach, let up on, liquation,
     liquefy, liquesce, liquidize, lixiviate, melt, melt down, melting,
     pardon, percolate, refine, relax, relent, render, reprieve, run,
     running, smelt, soften, solubilize, solve, spare, take pity on,
     thawing, thermoplasticity, thin, unbend, unclot, unfreeze, warm,
     warm up, yield