frost-jacking noun [U]
UK /ˈfrɒstdʒæk.ɪŋ/ US /ˈfrɑːstdʒæk.ɪŋ/
the act of stealing a car that has been left unattended with the engine running to defrost it in very cold weather
Drivers have been issued a warning after three cars were stolen during a “frost-jacking” spree in Fife on Friday. The thefts occurred between 8am and 8.50am while the vehicles were left defrosting outside properties. Detective inspector Sammi Davidson said: “With temperatures expected to remain low I would urge residents not to leave their cars unattended as it only takes seconds for an opportunist to take the vehicle.”
[news.stv.tv, November 2025]
See also carjacking
ghost charging noun [U]
UK /ˈgəʊst ˌtʃɑː.dʒɪŋ/ US /ˈgoʊst ˌtʃɑːr.dʒɪŋ/
the act of using a charging bay for an electric vehicle as a parking space and not actually charging your car while you are parked there
Ghost charging is when an EV driver uses a dedicated charging bay simply to take a handy parking space. They park up and plug in when they don’t need to charge, to the annoyance of other EV drivers who do need to charge.
[www.petalite.io, 2 April 2025]
T-plate noun [C]
/ˈtiːpleɪt/
a square, white sign with a green letter T on it, attached to the back and the front of a vehicle that is being driven by a tourist in an area where road accidents are frequent
Tourists driving in the Highlands are being encouraged to display “T-plates” in the hope it will reduce accidents. The signs are intended to alert other road users that the driver might not be familiar with Scotland’s roads. It comes after Transport Scotland warned earlier this year that the number of crashes caused by “inexperience of driving on the left” had increased sharply.
[bbc.co.uk/news, 11 September 2025]
In the list given above of new entries, what does the letter in brackets after each word mean?
Hello! Thanks for your question. The letters in brackets are the grammar codes we use in the dictionary. For example [U] means that a noun is uncountable, so it doesn’t have a plural. You can find out more about our grammar codes here: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/help/codes.html
Ghost charging! Have seen this way more than I would like or is strictly necessary.
T-plates haven’t yet come to Australia that I know of.
Some people use left-hand drive cars like the ones in the USA. I also wondered if that person had been a hobbyist or someone who loved classic cars.
Toooooo bad gg
Driving in Gt Britain is hazardous mostly because of all the angry aggressive drivers who become mad and vengeful if they think you may have cut them off, and therefore want to run you off the road.