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PlainSpell

thaw

UK /θɔː/verb, noun

thaw is spelled T-H-A-W: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, thaw means “To gradually cause (something frozen, such as earth, ice, or snow) to melt or soften by raising the temperature” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in thaw?

Letters4: T-H-A-W
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is thaw?

Thaw appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce thaw?

  • UK /θɔː/
  • British /θoː/
  • /θɔ/

Thaw has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-thaw.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with thaw?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as thaw from its last stressed vowel (/ɔ/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: what, hawt, wath.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of thaw

  • thaws present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • thawing participle, present
  • thawed past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • thow

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does thaw mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To gradually cause (something frozen, such as earth, ice, or snow) to melt or soften by raising the temperature.

  2. 2

    To gradually cause (someone or something that is very cold) to warm up.

  3. 3

    To cause (something inactive) to become active; also, to cause (something unfeeling) to have feelings.

  4. 4

    To cause (someone or their feelings that are reserved or unfriendly) to become friendly or gentle.

  5. 5

    archaicrareTo cause (something rigid) to become limp.

  6. 6

    Of something frozen, such as earth, ice, or snow: to gradually melt or soften as a result of the temperature being raised.

    the ice thaws

  7. 7

    Of someone or something that is very cold: to gradually warm up.

  8. 8

    With the dummy pronoun it: of the weather: to become sufficiently warm for ice, snow, etc., to melt.

    It’s beginning to thaw.

noun

  1. 1

    A gradual melting or softening of something frozen (such as earth, ice, or snow) when the temperature rises; the transformation of something frozen into a fluid or semifluid.

  2. 2

    A gradual warming up of someone or something that is very cold.

  3. 3

    Of something inactive: an act of becoming active; also, of something unfeeling: an act of developing feelings.

  4. 4

    Of a person who is reserved or unfriendly: an act of becoming friendly or gentle.

  5. 5

    A period of relaxation of restrictions in a country or state; also, a period of increased friendliness or understanding, or of reduced hostility or tension in relations, between states.

  6. 6

    A period of weather warm enough to melt ice, snow, etc.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Thaw in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfondre ((''transitive'') to gradually cause (something…), dégeler ((''intransitive'') of something frozen, such as…), dégel, fusion (gradual melting or softening of something…), réchauffement de l'atmosphère (period of relaxation of restrictions in a…)
Germanauftauen ((''transitive'') to gradually cause (something…), tauen, schmelzen ((''intransitive'') of something frozen, such as…), Schmelze (gradual melting or softening of something…), Tauwetter (period of relaxation of restrictions in a…), entspannen ((transitive) to cause (someone or their…)
Spanishdescongelar ((''transitive'') to gradually cause (something…), descongelarse, deshelarse, deshielarse ((''intransitive'') of something frozen, such as…), derretimiento, descongelación (gradual melting or softening of something…)
Portuguesedescongelar, derreter ((''intransitive'') of something frozen, such as…), degelo (gradual melting or softening of something…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does thaw come from?

The verb is derived from Middle English thawen, thowen (“to melt (ice, snow, etc.), thaw”), from Old English þāwian, *þāwan (“to thaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *þauwjan (“to melt, thaw; to digest; to dissolve”), from Proto-Germanic *þawjaną (“to thaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂- (“to melt; to flow, stream”). The noun is derived from Late Middle English thawe, thowe (“melting of ice, snow, etc., thawing”), from thawen, thowen (verb) (see above).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after thaw