小词详解 | thaw

小词详解 | thaw
thaw 英 [θɔː] 美 [θɔː]

TOEFL TEM8 GRE

外刊例句

  • As climate change thaws the snow, the remains of many of these victims have emerged—including one of the lost climbers from 1924.
    随着气候变化,冰雪消融,许多遇难者的遗体重见天日——其中就包括1924年失踪的两名登山者之一。
    ——《经济学人》
  • He reprised that language in his speech on Wednesday, signaling that no political thaw is in the offing.
    他在周三的演讲中重申了这个说法,这意味着政治解冻还未到来。
    ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[verb] (of ice, snow, or another frozen substance, such as food) become liquid or soft as a result of warming
[动词] (指冰、雪或食物等其他冷冻物质)因变暖而变成液体或变软

深入解读

Thaw 一词源自西日耳曼语 thawon (融化),其基本含义指“冰、雪等融化、融解”或“江、河等结冰后解冻”,也可以表示“冷冻食品等解冻、化冻”或“手脚等变暖、回到正常温度”,比如:

  • 这些肉烹制之前要先彻底解冻。
    Allow the meat to thaw completely before cooking it.
  • 我觉得耳朵和脚趾暖和过来了。
    I could feel my ears and toes start to thaw out.

其作名词时,除了指“融化、解冻”等过程外,还可以表示“解冻时节”或“天气回暖期”,比如:

  • 我们在初春解冻时节的泥泞中艰难行进。
    We slogged through the mud of an early spring thaw.

寒冬三九天是一年中最冷的一段时间,但比其更冷的还有人与人、国与国之间的冰冷关系。“解冻、融化”这种降至冰点的关系也可以用 thaw 引申表达,即“关系等回暖、缓和、改善”或“变得友好、随和、不拘束”,既可以作动词也可以作名词使用,比如:

  • 他们谈着谈着,他才变得随和起来。
    As they talked, he began to thaw.
  • 两国经贸关系有缓和的迹象。
    There are signs of a thaw in economic and trade relations between the two countries.

名人用例

One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of March thaw, is the Spring.
一只燕子的来临说明不了夏天,但当一群大雁冲破了三月暖流的雾霭时,春天就来到了。

出自美国生态学家、环境保护主义者奥尔多·利奥波德(Aldo Leopold,1887年1月11日-1948年4月21日)。

同近义词

  • melt: make or become liquefied by heat
  • defrost: free (the interior of a refrigerator or freezer) of accumulated ice, usually by turning it off for a period
  • fuse: melt (a material or object) with intense heat so as to join it with something else