small pieces of ice that form in water moving turbulently enough to prevent the formation of a sheet of ice
Word origin
C19: from Canadian French frasil, from French fraisil cinders, ultimately from Latin fax torch
frazil in American English
(ˈfreizəl, ˈfræzəl, frəˈzil, -ˈzɪl)
noun
ice crystals formed in turbulent water, as in swift streams or rough seas
Word origin
[1885–90, Amer.; ‹ CanF frasil, frazil, fraisil, F fraisil coal cinders, OF faisil]This word is first recorded in the period 1885–90. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: lineup, toner, twofer, upsweep, zoom
Examples of 'frazil' in a sentence
frazil
This will likely influence the formation and aggregation of frazil ice crystals within the supercooled layer.
C. L. Stevens, N. J. Robinson, M. J. M. Williams, T. G. Haskell 2009, 'Observations of turbulence beneath sea ice in southern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica',Ocean Science (OS)http://www.ocean-sci.net/5/435/2009/os-5-435-2009.pdf. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
These results are relevant for modelling frazil ice accumulation and freeze-up of leads, polynyas and along the seasonal ice zone.
S. De la Rosa, S. Maus 2012, 'Laboratory study of frazil ice accumulation under wave conditions', The Cryospherehttp://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/173/2012/tc-6-173-2012.pdf. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)