thaw
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To gradually melt, dissolve, or become fluid.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
thawIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈθɔ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitive
To gradually melt, dissolve, or become fluid; to soften from frozen.
impersonalintransitive
To become sufficiently warm to melt ice and snow, said in reference to the weather.
transitive
To gradually cause frozen things (such as earth, snow, ice) to melt, soften, or dissolve.
intransitivefiguratively
To grow gentle or genial.
noun
The melting of ice, snow, or other frozen or congealed matter; the transformation of ice or the like into the state of a fluid; liquefaction by heat of anything congealed by frost
Warm weather following a freeze; snow and ice melt
A period of weather warm enough to melt that which is frozen
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.”
figuratively
A period of relaxation, of reduced reserve, tension, or hostility or of increased friendliness or understanding.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To gradually melt, dissolve, or become fluid; to soften from frozen.
Used this way, thaw is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- unfreeze , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use thaw
- “The thaw between the United States and Russia has led to increased cooperation in world affairs.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a liquid.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: melting of ice or snow
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.