frostline

[ frawst-lahyn, frost- ]

noun
  1. the maximum depth at which soil is frozen.

  2. the lower limit of permafrost.

Origin of frostline

1
An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; frost + line1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use frostline in a sentence

  • It should be a permanent trellis, made of cedar posts set three feet deep, so as to be below the frost line and four feet high.

    A Woman's Hardy Garden | Helena Rutherfurd Ely
  • Coffee is found growing in all altitudes, from sea-level up to the frost-line, which is about 6,000 feet in the tropics.

    All About Coffee | William H. Ukers
  • Growers tell me that Snyder blackberries are killed down to the frost line, which proves it is not iron-clad, as some believe.

  • The cost of installation will depend largely on how deep it is necessary to go to get below the frost line.

    The Dollar Hen | Milo M. Hastings
  • The crevices where racers hibernate are known to be several feet deep in some instances, extending well below the frost line.

British Dictionary definitions for frost line

frost line

noun
  1. the deepest point in the ground to which frost will penetrate

  2. the limit towards the equator beyond which frosts do not occur

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for frost line

frost line

  1. In regions where there is no permafrost, the maximum depth to which frost penetrates the ground in the winter.

  2. The lower limit of permafrost.

  1. In tropical regions, the elevation below which frost never occurs.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.