See Also:

ice(2) (iou)



ice noun.
[Old English is = Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old High German is (Dutch ijs, German Eis), Old Norse iss, from Germanic, with analogues in Iranian langs.]
Frozen water, a brittle transparent crystalline solid. OE.
b. A mass or body of ice. Usu. in pl. OE.
the ice, the sheet or layer of ice on something, esp. a pond, river, etc. ME.
B. Lopez No ship..had been able to breach the ice in Davis Strait.
fig. Complete absence of warm feeling; cold-heartedness; reserve. L16.
M. Ignatieff She watched..as the ice formed at the heart of her marriage.
a. (An) ice-cream. E18.
b. Icing for cakes etc. E18.
a. Diamonds; jewellery. slang. E20.
b. Profit from the illegal sale of theatre, cinema, etc., tickets. US slang. E20.
c. Protection money. slang. M20.
Phrases: as cold as ice: see COLD adjective. black ice: see BLACK adjective. break the ice fig. make a beginning; break through reserve or stiffness. cut ice: see CUT verb. dry ice: see DRY adjective. fast ice: see FAST adjective. hog on ice: see HOG noun. inland ice: see INLAND adjective. like ice (of a room, one's extremities, etc.) very cold. MOUNTAIN of ice. on ice (a) (of an entertainment, sport, etc.) performed by skaters; (b) (of a bottle etc.) on or in ice to cool the contents; (c) colloq. held in reserve; postponed for attention at a later date. on thin ice in a risky situation. skate on thin ice: see SKATE verb.
Comb.: ice age a glacial period, esp. one of those in the Pleistocene epoch (little ice age: see LITTLE adjective); ice-axe a tool used by mountaineers for cutting footholds in ice; ice-bag an ice-filled rubber bag for medical use; ice beer a type of strong lager brewed at sub-zero temperatures so that ice crystals form, which are then strained off to remove impurities and excess water; ice-bird (a) any of several prions; (b) the little auk; iceblink: see BLINK noun 5a; iceblock (a) a block of ice; (b) Austral. & NZ an ice lolly; ice-blue a very pale blue; ice-bolt a bolt or dart of ice; an avalanche; fig. a sudden chill; ice-bound adjective held fast or confined by ice; icebox (a) a box for holding ice; (b) a box kept cold by ice; (c) US a refrigerator; (d) a compartment in a refrigerator for making and storing ice; ice bucket = ice pail below; ice-cap (a) a permanent layer of ice covering a tract of land (esp. a polar region) or the top of a mountain; (b) a bag of crushed ice applied to the head; ice chest = icebox (a) above; ice-cold adjective as cold as ice; ice-cube a small block of ice made in a refrigerator, used for chilling drinks; ice dancing a form of ice skating incorporating choreographed dance moves, typically performed by skaters in pairs; ice-fall (a) a steep part of a glacier resembling a frozen waterfall; (b) an avalanche of ice; ice-field an extensive flat expanse of ice, esp. in polar regions; ice-fish noun & verb (a) noun a capelin; (b) verb intrans. fish through holes in the ice on a lake or river (chiefly as ice-fishing verbal noun); ice floe: see FLOE; ice-flower a delicate pattern of ice crystals formed by frost, esp. on a window; ice fog fog in which the obscuring matter is minute ice crystals suspended in the air; ice-foot [Danish isfod] (a) a belt of ice on the sea next to the coast in Arctic regions; (b) the edge of an ice floe; ice-front the margin of a glacier, ice-shelf, or ice sheet; ice hockey: see HOCKEY noun1 2; ice house (a) a building, often partly or wholly underground, in which to store ice; (b) a small shelter built out of ice; ice lolly: see LOLLY noun2 1; ice machine: for making ice from water; ice-master a pilot or sailing-master who has experience of navigating among ice floes; ice-pack (a) (a mass of) pack ice; (b) a quantity of ice wrapped up and applied to the body for medical etc. purposes; ice pail a pail to hold ice for cooling bottles of wine; ice pan a small slab of floating ice; ice-pick (a) a needle-like implement with a handle for splitting table ice; (b) a mountaineer's pick; ice-piton a piton to assist climbing on ice; ice plant (a) any of various succulent plants of the mesembryanthemum family, native to southern Africa, esp. Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, whose leaves are covered with pellucid watery vesicles looking like ice crystals; (b) a tall freq. cultivated pink-flowered stonecrop, Sedum spectabile, with glaucous fleshy leaves; ice rink: see RINK noun 3; ice sheet a permanent layer of ice covering an extensive tract of land, esp. a polar region; ice-shelf a floating sheet of ice permanently attached to a land mass; ice-show an entertainment performed by skaters on ice; ice-skate noun & verb (a) noun a skate consisting of a boot with a blade beneath, for skating on ice; (b) verb intrans. skate on ice; ice-skater a person who skates on ice; ice storm a storm of freezing rain that leaves a deposit of ice; ice-water: obtained from or cooled by ice; ice-wool = EIS WOOL; ice-work (a) ornamentation executed in ice, or having the appearance of ice; frosted work; (b) work done by glaciers or icebergs; (c) (the technique of) climbing on icy surfaces; ice-worm a small oligochaete worm, Mesenchytraeus solifugus, found in N. American glaciers and ice-fields; ice-yacht a lightly built boat with runners and a sail for travelling at speed over ice.
iceless adjective free of ice; not covered by ice: M19.