different between nipping vs frosty

English

Verb

nipping

1. present participle of nip

Noun

nipping (plural nippings)

1. The act or sensation of giving a nip.
   • 1789, Memoirs of the Medical Society of London

     Being, however, satisfied as to the position, I withdrew my hand, the pains still growing less frequent and weaker, but she lamented greatly the nippings and pinchings in her belly, which rather increased as the true labour pains decreased.

   • 1999, Guy Murchie, The Seven Mysteries of Life

     Elephants may seem clumsy, but they not only are highly sophisticated in courtship, with large repertoires of provocative gestures, proddings, nippings and subtle erotic teasings with the trunk, but sometimes they complete actual copulation within 18 seconds.

English

Etymology

From Middle English frosty, forsty, from Old English forsti?, fyrsti? (“frosty”), from Proto-West Germanic *frostag, *frust?g, equivalent to frost +? -y. Cognate with West Frisian froastich (“frosty”), Dutch vorstig (“frosty”), German Low German fröstig (“frosty”), German frostig (“frosty”), Swedish frostig (“frosty”). Compare also Saterland Frisian froasterch (“frosty”), German Low German frösterg (“frosty”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?sti

Adjective

frosty (comparative frostier, superlative frostiest)

1. Cold, chilly.

   The air was frosty; I could see my breath and walked quickly with my hands in my pockets.

   I'd like a frosty milkshake.

2. Having frost on it.

   The frosty pumpkin is the sign of the end of the growing season, soon the greenery will wither and harvest end for the year.

3. (figuratively) Having an aloof or inhospitable manner.

   After the divorce, she was civil but frosty to her ex.

Translations

Derived terms

• frosty one
• stay frosty

Middle English

Alternative forms

• frosti, forsty

Etymology

From Old English forsti?, from Proto-West Germanic *frostag, equivalent to frost +? -y. Compare Old English fyrsti?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fr?sti?/, /?f?rsti?/

Adjective

frosty

1. Cold, freezing, frosty; being or experiencing cold.
2. (rare) White (of a beard)

Descendants

• English: frosty
• Scots: frosty

References

• “frost?, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-02.