ice-cream headache

A form of ice cream headache — A type of headache caused by cold around the brain, either at the back of the throat when eating ice cream (as the name suggests), or from cold around the outside of the head.

Meanings

nounice-cream headache (plural ice-cream headaches)

plural ice-cream headaches

  1. alternativeAlternative form of ice cream headache.

    She’d finished her milkshake so fast that Michael was surprised she didn’t have an ice-cream headache.

    2011, Lisa Tucker, The Winters in Bloom, Washington Square Press, published 2012, →ISBN, page 199
    2 more examples

    Swallowing a cold drink or ice cream can evoke a sudden pain in the palate, throat, or forehead. Such “ice-cream headaches” are more common in people prone to migraines.

    2003, Floyd E. Bloom, M. Flint Beal, David J[erome] Kupfer, editors, The Dana Guide to Brain Health, The Free Press, →ISBN, page 547

    An ice pick of cold stabbed into the back of Jason’s left eye. “Now I know what Madame Rosa’s warning meant,” he gasped, shoving his mint-chip milk shake away. “What?” Dani demanded. “I shouldn’t have sucked that down so fast. I’ve got a killer ice-cream headache now,” Jason explained, toying with the half-empty cup.

    2007, Alex Duval, Ritual (Vampire Beach), Simon Pulse, →ISBN, page 17

Synonyms & antonyms

Cite this entry
APA

ice-cream headache. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ice-cream%20headache

MLA

“ice-cream headache.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ice-cream%20headache. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ice-cream headache,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ice-cream%20headache.

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