"the melting of ice or snow," also "spell of weather causing this," c. 1400, from thaw (v.). Figurative sense is from 1590s; specifically "relaxation of political harshness or hostility" from 1950, an image from the "Cold War."
thaw (v.)
Old English þawian (transitive), from Proto-Germanic *thawon- (cognates: Old Norse þeyja, Middle Low German doien, Dutch dooien, Old High German douwen, German tauen "to thaw"), from PIE root *ta- "to melt, dissolve" (cognates: Sanskrit toyam "water," Ossetic thayun "to thaw," Welsh tawadd "molten," Doric Greek takein "to melt, waste, be consumed," Old Irish tam "pestilence," Latin tabes "a melting, wasting away, putrefaction," Old Church Slavonic tajati "to melt"). Intransitive sense from early 14c. Related: Thawed; thawing.
雙語例句
1. At least this second meeting had helped to thaw the atmosphere.
這第二次會議至少起到了緩和氣氛的作用。
來自柯林斯例句
2. I remember to thaw out the chicken before I leave home.
我記著出門前把雞肉化開。
來自柯林斯例句
3. It took up to Christmas for political relations to thaw.
直到聖誕節政治關係才有所改善。
來自柯林斯例句
4. Thaw it out completely before reheating in a saucepan.
先把它完全化開，然後再放在平底鍋裏重新加熱。
來自柯林斯例句
5. We slogged through the mud of an early spring thaw.