frost-bitten

A hiker warms his frost-bitten fingers over a campfire.

Definition

Adjective: - Affected by frostbite: "frost-bitten" describes tissue (usually skin) that has been damaged by exposure to extreme cold, resulting in freezing and potential necrosis.

Usage Examples

• (Fingers damaged by freezing cold.)
• (Ears affected by frostbite due to prolonged cold exposure.)
• (Paws damaged by freezing temperatures.)

Advanced Usage

• "Frost-bitten crops": agricultural plants damaged by frost.
  • The unexpected freeze left the entire orchard frost-bitten. (All fruit trees damaged by frost.)
• "Frost-bitten appearance": a pale, waxy, or discolored look of skin due to cold injury.
  • His nose had a frost-bitten appearance, white and hard to the touch. (Skin showing signs of frostbite.)

Variants and Related Words

• Frostbite (noun): the medical condition of tissue damage from freezing.
  • He suffered severe frostbite on his toes after the mountain climb. (The condition itself.)
• Frostbitten (adjective, alternate spelling): same as "frost-bitten"; the hyphen is often omitted in modern usage.
  • Her cheeks were frostbitten from the wind. (Damaged by cold.)
• Frostbite (verb, rare): to cause frostbite.
  • The extreme cold frostbit his exposed skin. (Past tense: frostbit; past participle: frostbitten.)

Synonyms

• Chilblained: affected by chilblains (swelling and inflammation from cold, less severe than frostbite).
• Freeze-damaged: general term for injury from freezing.
• Cold-injured: tissue harmed by low temperatures.

Related Idioms

• "Frost-bitten by the cold": a literal description, not a figurative idiom.
• "Bitten by the frost": poetic or literary way to describe frost damage.
  • The roses were bitten by the frost, their petals turning brown. (Damaged by frost.)

Notes on Usage

• "Frost-bitten" is primarily used in medical or descriptive contexts. It is not a common everyday word but is precise for discussing cold-weather injuries.
• Avoid confusing with "frostbitten" (non-hyphenated), which is equally correct in modern English. The hyphenated form emphasizes the compound nature of the word.