frosting

English

Chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream frosting.

Etymology

From frost +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɒst.ɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɔst.ɪŋ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɑst.ɪŋ/

Noun

frosting (countable and uncountable, plural frostings)

1. (US) Icing, a sweet, often creamy and thick, covering for cakes and other baked goods.
   • 1915, Eleanor H. Porter, Pollyanna Grows Up‎^[1], The Page Company:

     “ […] Cities aren’t like frosted cake — and, anyhow, even the cake didn’t keep very well. I tried it, and it dried up, ’specially the frosting. I reckon the time to take frosting and good times is while they are going; so I want to see all I can now while I’m here.”

2. A layer of frost.
3. The theft of a car while it is left unattended, especially when its engine is left running in the winter to defrost the car.

Usage notes

• See the usage note about icing regarding the use of the words icing and frosting.
• The plural form is used for multiple varieties of frosting; a single type of frosting is itself uncountable.

Derived terms

• flood frosting
• frosting on the cake
• frosting spatula

Translations

a sugary coating for cakes and other baked goods — see icing

a layer of frost

• Czech: námraza f
• Galician: lazo (gl) m
• Polish: szron (pl) m

Verb

frosting

1. present participle and gerund of frost