frostbite

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   injury and possible destruction of body tissue caused by exposure to severe cold

   The climber developed frostbite in two fingers after losing a glove.

2. 2
   verb

   to injure living tissue through exposure to freezing cold

   A bitter wind can frostbite exposed skin within minutes.

A compound of frost + bite, likening cold's injury to the wound of a bite. The irregular participle frostbitten follows the pattern of bite and bitten.

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