解凍

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 解凍, read かいとう, means thawing something frozen or decompressing a compressed file.
• Basic usage: It applies to two different kinds of object: frozen food and compressed files.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Meaning depends on the object
  • The fish in the first example is brought out of a frozen state.
  • The file in the second is brought out of a compressed state.
• The reverse processes
  • For food, 冷凍 means freezing, the reverse of thawing.
  • For files, 圧縮 means compression, the reverse of decompression.