frosted tips

Noun

frosted tips pl (plural only)

1. (plural, plural-only) A hairstyle in which the hair forms spikes, the tips of which are bleached pale blond, forming a contrast to the color of the rest of the hair.
   • Then again, they may then place restrictions on my hair such that I could not get highlights or frosted tips.2014, Turney Hall, An Eagle Soars: One Man's Journey to Baldness, →ISBN
   • “The dude's got a rainbow Mohawk with frosted tips,” my brother said calmly.2016, Haleigh Lovell, The Slam (A Romance)
2. (plural, plural-only) White or light coloration at the ends of darker feathers or fur on a bird or mammal.
   • These are E. olitor, which is similar to E. melanogaster but smaller in size, with dark greyish-brown upperparts with pale frosted tips; and E. miletus, which is similar in size and colour to E. cachinus but with a relatively shorter tail and higher skull profile.2008, Charles M. Francis, Priscilla Barrett, A Field Guide to the Mammals of South-East Asia, →ISBN, page 375
   • Males are generally rich warm or reddish-brown with darker streaking on mantle and back, bright pink rump and underparts, and faint (not prominent) wingbar; long Supercilium to sides of nape is pale pink with pale silvery or frosted tips, with cheeks and ear-coverts similar.2010, Peter Clement, Finches and Sparrows, →ISBN, page 277
3. (plural, plural-only) A type of surgical laser lens that has frosted edges in order to diffuse the radiation profile.
   • The frosted tips were used for dissection of subcutaneous vascular tissue, as they coagulate blood vessels better than the clear tips.1993, Allen M. Putterman, Cosmetic Oculoplastic Surgery, page 319
   • By utilizing frosted tips, a broader zone of necrosis is possible with facilitation of resection through fibrotic liver.1997, Renzo Dionigi, Juan R. Madariaga, New Technologies for Liver Resections, page 8
4. (plural, plural-only) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see frosted, tip.
   • The four small ceiling bulbs in the dining room were chosen of frosted glass; most of the other lamps have frosted tips.1916 May, “Making Over the Lighting System”, in Popular Science, volume 88, number 5, page 795
   • Obtain a speculum, a wooden Pap-smear stick, normal saline with a 60-mL syringe, a sterile specimen cup, and slides with frosted tips on which to label client information.2012, Cynthia C. Chernecky, Barbara J. Berger, Laboratory Tests and Diagnostic Procedures, →ISBN, page 797