ice shelf

/ˈaɪs ˌʃɛlf/

noun

A thick, floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. Ice shelves are found in Antarctica, Greenland, and Canada only.

Similar
shelf ice
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Meanings

nounice shelf (plural ice shelves)

plural ice shelves · alternative ice-shelf · alternative iceshelf

  1. A thick, floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. Ice shelves are found in Antarctica, Greenland, and Canada only.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounice that is attached to land but projects out to sea

Similar
shelf ice
Broader
ice
Also see
shelf ice

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Catalan plataforma de gel, barrera de gel
  • plataforma de gelthick floating platform of ice
  • barrera de gelthick floating platform of ice
  • altiplà de gelthick floating platform of ice
Chinese Mandarin 冰架
  • 冰架 (bīngjià)thick floating platform of ice
Finnish mannerjäähylly
  • mannerjäähyllythick floating platform of ice
French plateforme de glace
  • plateforme de glacethick floating platform of ice
German Schelfeis, Eisschelf
  • Schelfeisthick floating platform of ice
  • Eisschelfthick floating platform of ice
Indonesian lempengan es, paparan es
  • lempengan esthick floating platform of ice
  • paparan esthick floating platform of ice
Japanese 棚氷
  • 棚氷 (tanagōri)thick floating platform of ice
Korean 빙붕
  • 빙붕 (bingbung)thick floating platform of ice
Malay pentas ais
  • pentas aisthick floating platform of ice
Norwegian Bokmål isbrem
  • isbremthick floating platform of ice
Portuguese plataforma de gelo
  • plataforma de gelothick floating platform of ice
Russian шельфовые ледники
  • шельфовые ледники (šelʹfovyje ledniki)thick floating platform of ice
Spanish plataforma de hielo flotante, barrera de hielo
  • plataforma de hielo flotantethick floating platform of ice
  • barrera de hielothick floating platform of ice
  • meseta de hielothick floating platform of ice
Swedish shelfis
  • shelfisthick floating platform of ice
Cite this entry
APA

ice shelf. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ice%20shelf

MLA

“ice shelf.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ice%20shelf. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ice shelf,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ice%20shelf.

Source: ice shelf on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.