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frost n Cp OED ~ 7 b frostburnt (1770); cp DAE frost 2 (1718) for
frost-shoe.
Cpd frostburn: an injury of the flesh caused by
exposure to freezing temperatures; frostbite.
1792 CARTWRIGHT
Gloss i, x ~ A deep and serious penetration of frost on any animal substance. The
effect of severe frost on animal substances being equal with that of fire, is the reason
of that term. [1820] 1915 HOWLEY 122 On the 31st many of the party with myself fell in,
precautionary measures were instantly taken to prevent frostburn, and we put up on the
South side of the river. 1861 DE BOILIEU 104-5 I leave the reader to conclude which of
the two poor fellows had the best chance of being preserved from frost-burns. [1916] 1972
GORDON 45 In cases where a lonely traveller may enter a house unaware that he has been
touched [by the frost], the effect is like the application of a red-hot poker! That is
why the term 'frost-burn' is used rather than that of 'frost-bite.'
Hence frostburn v: (a) to injure the flesh by exposure to
freezing temperatures; (b) to spoil the quality (of fish, fur, etc) by exposure to cold
or ice (see 1873 quot).
[1770] 1792 CARTWRIGHT i, 70 Three of the
men were slightly frostburnt, and most of them seared... Frostburnt is a term used in
this part of the world, to signify that the flesh is amazingly benumbed with cold, so as
to render it callous. It has not unfrequently happened, that people have lost the use of
their limbs, by the severity of the frost. [1794] 1968 THOMAS 125 All were frost burnt
in March and April, but with good Treatment none of them have lost as much as a
Finger. 1836 [WIX]2 55 I was in more danger to-day than probably at any other
period of my journey, of being frostburned. 1873 CARROLL 33 The first evil is, that if
the weather is severe, many of the [seal] skins are sure to be frost burnt. [1929]
MCCAWLEY 44 "The Newfoundland Fishermen": What a brave set of men are the sealers, / Who
venture each spring to the ice, / Whose sufferings 'tis hard to describe. / For they're
often frost burnt and crushed in the ice. T 84-64 You'll have some frostburned fingers if
you'd take four or five minutes to load a gun! T 88-64 We left Boyds Cove the next
morning, an' we frostburned ourself before we got home. We got frostbitten—our
faces, noses an' the whole thing: a bitter day. 1972 BROWN 39 Others was out all the next
night, and they was all froze, all but six or seven that were picked up next day,
frost-burned somethin' cruel an' their minds gone wanderin'.
frost-shoe: boot or shoe with studs or nails in the sole to
prevent slipping on ice.
[1794] 1968 THOMAS 52 [Newfoundland dogs]
have gearing the same as horses; the wood is put into Sledges which they draw, and
sometimes they drag a single stick only, attended by one man who wears frost shoes.
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