ice

plural ices · alternative obsolete yce

1. uncountableusuallyWater in frozen (solid) form.

   He said, “Where we’re at right now was back in 2008 all covered with ice. From here to there at the side, the glacier shrank about 20 to 30 meters.”

   3 more examples

   If thou doſt marry, Ile giue thee / This plague to thy dowry: / Be thou as chaſte as yce, as pure as ſnowe, / Thou ſhalt not ſcape calumny, to a Nunnery goe.

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]

   1882, Popular Science Monthly (volume 20), "The Freezing of a Salt Lake" It has always been difficult to explain how ice is formed on the surface of oceans while the temperature of maximum density is lower than that of cogelation, and the observations on this lake were instituted in the hope that they might throw light upon the subject.

   Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.

   2013 May 11, “The climate of Tibet: Pole-land”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8835, page 80

2. uncountableusuallyastronomyAny frozen volatile chemical, such as ammonia or carbon dioxide.
3. uncountableusuallyastronomyAny volatile chemical, such as water, ammonia, or carbon dioxide, not necessarily in solid form, when discussing the composition of e.g. a planet as an ice giant vs a gas giant.

   Neptune has one major moon: Triton, which is comparable in size to the Jovian moon Europa and at an average density of 2.061 g/cm³ widely understood to be covered by several hundred km of frozen or liquid ice.

   2022, Geophysical Exploration of the Solar System, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 45

   2 more examples

   Above the core is the lower-density liquid mantle composed of ice materials under high pressure and temperature. This massive liquid layer would not be separated into layers of traditional ice compounds, but mixtures of radically different compounds originally consisting of water, carbon dioxide, methane, and ammonia […] Since the mass of the planet is dominated by the liquid mantle that itself consists of heated ices under pressure, both Uranus and Neptune are classified as giant ice planets.

   2010 March 15, Lance K. Erickson, Space Flight: History, Technology, and Operations, Government Institutes, →ISBN, page 145

   Uranus and Neptune are […] usually classified separately as ice giants because they contain a much higher proportion of ice-forming substances such as water, ammonia, and methane. […] In the case of Uranus, the ice mantle must make up between 9.3 and 13.4 Earth masses worth of the total mass of the planet, which is 14.5 Earth masses. Similar proportions apply to Neptune. The commonly used term "ice mantle" is someone misleading, since the substance is actually a hot, slushy mixture that would be more aptly described as a water–ammonia ocean.

   2010 December 2, Raymond T. Pierrehumbert, Principles of Planetary Climate, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 20

4. figurativelyuncountableusuallySomething having an extreme coldness of manner.

   a heart of ice

   1 more example

   Her eyes flash with anger, her voice ice. "You afraid of the law? You haven't changed. I want you out of my house now."

   2023 January 27, Gay Degani, “Scablands”, in The Saturday Evening Post, Indianapolis, I.N.: Saturday Evening Post Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 Jan 2023

5. figurativelyuncountableusuallySomething, such as awkwardness, that prevents open social interaction.

   break the ice

   1 more example

   The dialogues—or "raps"—usually take place on a monthly or bi-monthly basis and aim at fostering contacts hand at breaking through stereotypical notions held by both sides. "There's no question that there's ice to begin with," said Lance Bradley, who conducts the raps for Chelsea's Tenth Precinct.

   1982 February 6, Bob Nelson, “'Rocky Relations' in New York Getting Smoother”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 28, page 3

6. uncountableusuallyhobbiesThe area where a game of ice hockey is played.

   2006, CBC, Finland, Sweden 'the dream final', February 26 2002, The neighbouring countries have enjoyed many great battles on the ice. They last met for gold at the 1998 world championship, won by Sweden. Three years earlier, Finland bested Sweden for the only world title in its history.

7. dialectaluncountableusuallyIcing; frosting ("a sweet, often creamy and thick glaze made primarily of sugar").

   Well weddings, they were just the usual ... my big brother was married in the Masonic and the Co-operative done the party. Steak pie and tatties, and all that sort of stuff. The wee square Albert cake with ice on it, fruit cake. Then the wee dance after that. There was no drinking at oor wedding!

   1990, Jean Faley, quoting John McKee, Up Oor Close: Memories of Domestic Life in Glasgow Tenements, 1910–1945, Wendlebury, Oxon: White Cockade, →ISBN, page 132

8. UKdateduncountableusuallyIce cream.

   The peach melba, probably the most famous sundae of all, is a sound marriage of poached peaches, vanilla ice and raspberry sauce.

   2008 August 2, Nigel Slater, “Sundae best”, in The Observer, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Sep 2015

   2 more examples

   They exude a naive zest: coatings of detail, poured like thick chocolate sauce over a mingy scoop of vanilla ice, distract attention, criticism, distrust.

   1973 June 9, Peter Preston, “Frederick Forsyth interview: ‘I’ve always been a loner’ – archive, 1973”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Jun 2025

   [I]n my book, all ice-cream is good ice-cream, but there’s something particularly joyful about a pink quiff of strawberry ice: British summer in a sticky, dripping cone. Happily, it’s a lot easier to make than it is to track down in shops.

   2023 August 23, Felicity Cloake, “How to make the perfect strawberry ice-cream – recipe”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Aug 2023

9. countableuncountableusuallyA frozen dessert made of fruit juice, water and sugar.
10. UKcountabledateduncountableusuallyAn ice cream.
11. countableobsoleteuncountableusuallyAn individual piece of ice.
12. slanguncountableusuallycrimeElephant or rhinoceros ivory that has been poached and sold on the black market.
13. slanguncountableusuallycrimeAn artifact that has been smuggled, especially one that is either clear or shiny.
14. slanguncountableusuallycrimeMoney paid as a bribe.

    Theater operators, theater party agents, playwrights, and others who have ready access to tickets may get in on the “ice” and sometimes the producer is in on it too.

    1960, United States. Congress, Congressional Record

    1 more example

    This “ice” is bribe money paid to public officials to purchase protection for illegal activities. […] Just consider the “ice” money available to the men involved in the examples just cited.

    1970, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates

15. slanguncountableusuallycrimedrugsThe crystal form of amphetamine-based drugs, including methamphetamine.

    Near-synonym: crystal meth

    1 more example

    There were times when she could tell the Washingtons were overwhelmed by Jahlil's difficult ways, and one time Jessie even had the nerve to ask Carmiesha if she had smoked anything like crack or ice while she was pregnant with him.

    2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 122

    Synonyms: crystal meth

16. slanguncountableusuallyOne or more diamonds.

    Ice on the wrist with the ice in the chains.

    2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), Most Known Unknown, performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG

    3 more examples

    But you can't give cred to anything dude says / Same dude to give you ice and you owe him some head

    2002, “Blueprint²”, performed by Jay-Z

    [She had] eaten a dinner at better than a hundred dollars a bite and she had enough ice on her ring finger to sink the Titanic. Maybe she really didn't have any morals. But she had a chance. And she was taking it.

    2014 August 18, Sarah Ballance, The Marriage Agenda, Entangled: Indulgence, →ISBN

    As she raised her left hand to get the crust out of her eye, she was blinded by the ice on her ring finger. Two bands filled with diamonds sat under and on top of her five-carat princess-cut engagement ring. Instantly, memories of her wedding day flooded her mind.

    2014 September 1, Keisha Ervin, Reckless 2: Nobody's Girl, Urban Books, →ISBN

present singular third person ices · participle present icing · participle past iced · past iced · alternative obsolete yce

1. intransitiveTo become ice; to freeze.
2. transitiveTo cool with ice, as an injured body part or a beverage.

   To treat runner's knee, you need to rest from running or any other high-impact activity, ice the knee, and strengthen the quadriceps through weight training.

   2008, Deirdre Pitney, Donna Dourney, Triathlon Training For Dummies, page 240

3. transitiveTo make icy; to freeze.

   The bridge ices before the road.

4. transitiveTo cover with icing (frosting made of sugar and milk or white of egg); to frost; as cakes, tarts, etc.
5. transitivehobbiesTo put out a team for a match.

   Milton Keynes have yet to ice a team this season

6. transitivehobbiesTo shoot the puck the length of the playing surface, causing a stoppage in play called icing.

   If the Bruins ice the puck, the faceoff will be in their own zone.

7. slangtransitiveTo murder.

   Not long afterwards Wolf rings him up. 'I want you to ice someone for £15,000, he says. "No one you know."

   2011, Gavin Knight, Hood Rat, London: Picador, →ISBN, page 158

8. slangtransitiveTo defeat decisively.

   Despite his vulnerabilities, Clinton managed to ice Dole in his 1996 reelection campaign for President.

1. abbreviationhobbiesAbbreviation of Iceland.
2. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Institution of Civil Engineers.
3. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of International Cultural Exchange.
4. USabbreviationacronymgovernmentAcronym of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“law-enforcement agency responsible for immigration and customs matters of the United States Federal government”).

   ICE agents were joined Sunday by officials from multiple Justice Department agencies as they targeted what they said are public safety and national security threats.

   2025 January 26, Priscilla Alvarez and Rosa Flores, “Trump administration launches nationwide immigration enforcement blitz”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Jan 2025

   2 more examples

   Mr. Schlossberg’s rant angered activists for immigrant rights, who said it reinforced stereotypes that Spanish speakers are not citizens. And they worried that it perpetuated fear within immigrant communities of ICE’s aggressive tactics to deport those who are undocumented.

   2018 May 22, Liz Robbins, Maya Salam, “‘I Am Not Racist’: Lawyer Issues Apology One Week After Rant”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2023

   Yeah, so we just want to stand with our immigrant community, uh we note that our neighbors are being killed by ICE and there's no accountability, there's no justice; so we just want to stand with them here and note that they're not alone and that there's people who support them.

   2026 July 18, Kat, quotee, 0:40 from the start, in Charlotte residents rally against ICE killings across the country, WCNC-TV, via YouTube, archived from the original on 19 Jul 2026

5. abbreviationinitialismrail transportInitialism of Intercity-Express (“German high speed train”).

plural ICEs

1. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountableautomotiveAcronym of internal combustion engine.

   2 more examples

   “ICE-ing is EV owner-speak for when an internal combustion engine (ICE) car blocks or parks in a charging point space. On EV internet forums, stories of drivers being ICEd abound. But rather than scuffles breaking out, if stories are to be believed, British EV drivers resort to leaving notes and icy stares when the offending ICE driver returns.

   2017 May 18, James Foxall, “Electric car drivers face queues and quarrels”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2025

   “The ICE tail is now fatter and longer than anybody ever thought it was going to be,” GM's chief financial officer Paul Jacobson said at a recent conference, even as the company continued to invest in new EVs. […] Ford last year posted a $5bn operative loss on its EV business but made $5.3bn from its ICE division.

   2025 October 11, Paul Jacobson, quotee, “Carmakers steer back towards more lucrative petrol vehicles”, in FT Weekend (Companies & Markets section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10

2. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablecomputingInitialism of internal compiler error.
3. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablecomputingInitialism of in-circuit emulator/emulation.
4. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableautomotiveInitialism of in-car entertainment.

   Synonyms: IVI

5. abbreviationacronymcountablemnemonicuncountablemedicineAcronym of ice, compress, elevation (first-aid).
6. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of intercontinental exchange.

   1 more example

   But ICE says futures trading in a variety of carbon-linked financial instruments -- where the bulk of trading activity occurs -- would continue apace. That includes trading in futures and options contracts for EUAs and the carbon offsets credits issued by U.N. organizations, the Certified Emission Reduction futures and options and Emission Reduction Unit futures.

   2011 January 20, Nathanial Gronewold and John J. Fialka, “European Commission Halts Transfers of Carbon Emissions Allowances Until Thefts Are Sorted Out”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 11 Jun 2024

7. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountableAcronym of iridocorneal endothelial syndrome.

1. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of in case of emergency, used in mobile phones followed by the number to call if the phone’s owner is injured.

present singular third person ICEs · participle present ICEing · participle past ICEd · past ICEd

1. slangautomotiveTo occupy a reserved electric car parking space (especially one equipped with a charger) with a traditional car equipped with an internal combustion engine.

   Clearer signs for electric vehicle charge points are needed to prevent drivers of petrol and diesel cars blocking access, the government has been told. […] It was claimed that the blocking of charge points by internal combustion engine cars — known as spaces being “iced” out — was a serious problem.

   2020 April 29, Graeme Paton, “Too many electric car charging spaces being blocked”, in The Times, archived from the original on 04 Oct 2021

   1 more example

   “We do get charge rage if someone ICEs your bay. And people don’t like it if someone parks a Tesla to charge for two hours. When your car has finished charging, our message is: move it.” ICE-ing is EV owner-speak for when an internal combustion engine (ICE) car blocks or parks in a charging point space. On EV internet forums, stories of drivers being ICEd abound.

   2017 May 18, James Foxall, “Electric car drivers face queues and quarrels”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2025

2. neologismslangtransitiveuncommonTo apprehend or deport by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
3. neologismslangtransitiveuncommonTo kill (in reference to and hypothetically by Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

comparative more ICE · superlative most ICE

1. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of isolated, confined, extreme.

   Antarctica, like outer-space, is known as an ICE environment – isolated, confined and extreme – meaning unlike other isolated communities, the rate of change for its vocabulary can be slower.

   2024 June 20, Eva Corlett, “Fidlets, fingies and riding a doo: study sheds light on Antarctic English slang”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 09 Aug 2024

plural Ices

1. countableuncountableA surname.
2. countableuncountableAlternative letter-case form of ICE.

   David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU-USWW, was serving as a community observer during an Ice raid in Los Angeles, and was arrested by federal agents over allegations of interfering.

   2025 June 9, Michael Sainato and Chris Stein, “Labor unions around US demand release of union leader arrested in LA protest”, in The Guardian

3. UScountableoftenuncountablewith definite articleAntarcticaAntarctica.

   Over three weeks in 2019, Kaefer spent time at three English-speaking Antarctic stations observing and gathering data from workers based on what the US station refers to as “The Ice”, or the British call the “South”.

   2024 June 20, Eva Corlett, “Fidlets, fingies and riding a doo: study sheds light on Antarctic English slang”, in The Guardian