'Frost nail' definitions:

Definition of 'Frost nail'

From: GCIDE
  • Frost \Frost\ (fr[o^]st; 115), n. [OE. frost, forst, AS. forst, frost. fr. fre['o]san to freeze; akin to D. varst, G., OHG., Icel., Dan., & Sw. frost. [root]18. See Freeze, v. i.]
  • 1. The act of freezing; -- applied chiefly to the congelation of water; congelation of fluids. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. The state or temperature of the air which occasions congelation, or the freezing of water; severe cold or freezing weather. [1913 Webster]
  • The third bay comes a frost, a killing frost. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Frozen dew; -- called also hoarfrost or white frost. [1913 Webster]
  • He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. --Ps. cxlvii. 16. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Coldness or insensibility; severity or rigidity of character. [R.] [1913 Webster]
  • It was of those moments of intense feeling when the frost of the Scottish people melts like a snow wreath. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
  • Black frost, cold so intense as to freeze vegetation and cause it to turn black, without the formation of hoarfrost.
  • Frost bearer (Physics), a philosophical instrument illustrating the freezing of water in a vacuum; a cryophorus.
  • Frost grape (Bot.), an American grape, with very small, acid berries.
  • Frost lamp, a lamp placed below the oil tube of an Argand lamp to keep the oil limpid on cold nights; -- used especially in lighthouses. --Knight.
  • Frost nail, a nail with a sharp head driven into a horse's shoe to keep him from slipping.
  • Frost smoke, an appearance resembling smoke, caused by congelation of vapor in the atmosphere in time of severe cold. [1913 Webster]
  • The brig and the ice round her are covered by a strange black obscurity: it is the frost smoke of arctic winters. --Kane.
  • Frost valve, a valve to drain the portion of a pipe, hydrant, pump, etc., where water would be liable to freeze.
  • Jack Frost, a popular personification of frost. [1913 Webster]