- 1[intransitive] thaw (out) (of ice and snow) to turn back into water after being frozen synonym melt The country was slowly thawing out after the long cold winter. opposite freeze Wordfindersnowavalanche, blizzard, drift, flurry, hail, icicle, sleet, slush, snow, thaw Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbcompletely, partially, rapidly, … See full entry
- 2[intransitive] when it thaws or is thawing, the weather becomes warm enough to melt snow and ice It's starting to thaw. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbcompletely, partially, rapidly, … See full entry See related entries: Snow and ice
- 3[intransitive, transitive] thaw (something) (out) to become, or to let frozen food become, soft or liquid ready for cooking Leave the meat to thaw completely before cooking. compare defrost, de-ice, unfreeze Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbcompletely, partially, rapidly, … See full entry
- 4[intransitive, transitive] thaw (something) (out) to become, or make something become, a normal temperature after being very cold I could feel my ears and toes start to thaw out. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbcompletely, partially, rapidly, … See full entry
- 5[intransitive] thaw (out) to become more friendly and less formal Relations between the two countries thawed a little after the talks. The atmosphere slowly began to thaw. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbcompletely, partially, rapidly, … See full entry Word OriginOld English thawian (verb), of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch dooien. The noun (first recorded in Middle English) developed its figurative use in the mid 19th cent.Extra examples Has the meat thawed out yet? Make sure the meat has thawed completely before cooking. The old nun was as imperious as ever, but visibly thawed when she saw the children. I’ll take a quiche out of the freezer and thaw it out in the microwave. If a pipe has frozen, it can be thawed out with a hairdryer. If frozen food has thawed out it should never be refrozen. It’s starting to thaw. The snow started to thaw as the temperature kept up.
thaw
verbBrE BrE//θɔː//; NAmE NAmE//θɔː//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they thaw BrE BrE//θɔː//; NAmE NAmE//θɔː//
he / she / it thaws BrE BrE//θɔːz//; NAmE NAmE//θɔːz//
past simple thawed BrE BrE//θɔːd//; NAmE NAmE//θɔːd//
past participle thawed BrE BrE//θɔːd//; NAmE NAmE//θɔːd//
-ing form thawing BrE BrE//ˈθɔːɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//ˈθɔːɪŋ//
Snow and iceCheck pronunciation: thaw
