thaw

verb

1. (transitive)To gradually cause (something frozen, such as earth, ice, or snow) to melt or soften by raising the temperature.

   “Sette the potte to the fyre to thawe the water: […]”

   “Miſlike me not for my complexion, / The ſhadovved liuery of the burniſht ſunne, / To vvhom I am a neighbour,and neere bred. / Bring me the faireſt creature North-vvard borne, / VVhere Phœbus fire ſcarce thawes the yſicles, / And let vs make inciſion for your loue, / To proue vvhoſe blood is reddeſt, his or mine.”

   “The Frame of burniſh'd Steel, that caſt a Glare / From far, and ſeem'd to thavv the freezing Air.”

   “There is a Plant that grovvs on Mount Libanus in Syria, vvhich the Arabian calls the Golden Herb; it begins to appear in the Month of May, after the Snovv is thavvn; in the tvvilight it appears all in a Flame, and continues like a Torch until Morning, vvithout diminution of its Subſtance.”

   “But Mr. Bailly vvill ſooner thavv the eternal ice of his atlantic regions, than reſtore the central heat to Paris, […]”

2. (transitive)To gradually cause (someone or something that is very cold) to warm up.

   “[M]y very lippes might freeze to my teeth, my tongue to the roofe of my mouth, my heart in my belly, ere I ſhould come by a fire to thavv me, […]”

   “I led him ben but any pingle, / And beekt him bravvly at my ingle; / Dighted his face, his handies thovv'd, / 'Til his young cheeks, like roſes, glovv'd.”

   “After I was lodged, thawed, and fed, I fell asleep, and slept for eighteen hours, without waking once; to my mind, it was a miracle that I ever woke again.”

3. (figuratively, transitive)To cause (something inactive) to become active; also, to cause (something unfeeling) to have feelings.

   “[N]ovv my loue is thavv'd, / VVhich like a vvaxen Image 'gainſt a fire / Beares no impreſſion of the thing it vvas.”

   “JENNY pretends an Errand Hame, / Young ROGER draps the reſt, / To vvhiſper out his melting Flame, / And thovv his Laſſie's Breaſt.”

4. (figuratively, transitive)To cause (someone or their feelings that are reserved or unfriendly) to become friendly or gentle.
5. (archaic, figuratively, rare, transitive)To cause (something rigid) to become limp.

   “"Speak aloud, my lord," said Elizabeth, "and at farther distance, so please you—your breath thaws our ruff. What have you to ask of us?"”

6. (intransitive)Of something frozen, such as earth, ice, or snow: to gradually melt or soften as a result of the temperature being raised.

   “the ice thaws”

   “O that this too too ſallied [sullied] fleſh vvould melt, / Thavv and reſolue it ſelfe into a devve, […]”

   “Tvvo miles hence Eaſtvvard, there ſpreeds it ſelfe abroad a large poole, vvhich the Britans call Linſavethan and Linſavathen, that is, A lake of ſtanding vvater: Giraldus [Gerald of Wales] tearmeth it Clamoſum, that is Clamorous or Crying loud, becauſe it maketh a ſtrange noiſe like thunder, as often as the Yce thereon doth thavv.”

   “I would that as water / My life's blood had thawn, […]”

7. (intransitive)Of someone or something that is very cold: to gradually warm up.

   “The bog's green harper, thawing from his sleep, / Twangs a hoarse note and tried a shortened leap; […]”

8. (impersonal, intransitive)With the dummy pronoun it: of the weather: to become sufficiently warm for ice, snow, etc., to melt.

   “It’s beginning to thaw.”

   “It Thaweth as the weather dothe whan the froſt breaketh⸝ […] It thaweth a pace: […]”

9. (figuratively, intransitive)Of a person or their feelings that are reserved or unfriendly: to become friendly or gentle.

   “Her anger has thawed.”

   “The atmosphere at the meeting never really thawed.”

10. (figuratively, intransitive)Of something inactive: to become active; also, of something unfeeling: to develop feelings.

noun

1. (also, attributive)A gradual melting or softening of something frozen (such as earth, ice, or snow) when the temperature rises; the transformation of something frozen into a fluid or semifluid.
2. (also, attributive)A gradual warming up of someone or something that is very cold.

   “raging floods pursue their hasty thaw; / Our thaw was mild , the cold not chased away”

3. (also, attributive, figuratively)Of something inactive: an act of becoming active; also, of something unfeeling: an act of developing feelings.
4. (also, attributive, figuratively)Of a person who is reserved or unfriendly: an act of becoming friendly or gentle.
5. (also, attributive, figuratively)A period of relaxation of restrictions in a country or state; also, a period of increased friendliness or understanding, or of reduced hostility or tension in relations, between states.
6. (also, attributive)A period of weather warm enough to melt ice, snow, etc.

name

1. A river in South Wales which flows into the Bristol Channel at Aberthaw.
2. A surname from Burmese.