Standard Lemma guide

dethaw

verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To thaw; unthaw; unfreeze.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: nonstandard

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

become or cause to become soft or liquid

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The sun melted the ice
  • the ice thawed
  • the ice cream melted
  • The heat melted the wax
  • The giant iceberg dissolved over the years during the global warming phase
  • dethaw the meat

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dissolve, thaw, unfreeze, unthaw, melt

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: liquefy, flux, liquify

Narrower terms: deliquesce, defrost, deice, de-ice

History

Etymology

From de- + thaw, by confusion with defrost or perhaps with words with null de- like defraud, decomplex.