Translation guide
How to express the concept of defrosting in Japanese, covering thawing frozen food, defrosting a freezer, and defogging a car windshield.
Please take the meat out of the freezer and defrost it.
Defrost in the microwave.
Specifically means to thaw naturally at room temperature, without using heat.
Please thaw the frozen food naturally before eating.
Means 'to melt' or 'to dissolve'. Can be used for defrosting in the sense of melting ice or frozen items, but is less specific than 解凍する.
Melt the frozen butter.
To express the action of removing built-up ice from a freezer or refrigerator.
To express the action of clearing condensation or frost from a car windshield.
解凍する is specifically for thawing frozen food or items back to a usable state, while 溶かす is for melting solids into liquids (e.g., ice to water, butter). Use 解凍する for defrosting food, and 溶かす for melting ice or frozen liquids.
In English, 'defrost' can refer to both food and car windshields. In Japanese, different expressions are used: 解凍する for food, 霜取り for freezers, and 曇りを取る or 霜を溶かす for windshields. Using 解凍する for a windshield would sound unnatural.
It took time to defrost the car.