# ice

Pronunciation: say "YS" /aɪs/

## Noun

1. Water in its frozen, solid state.
   - Simple: Water that has become hard and solid because it is very cold.
   - _A thin layer of ice formed on the windshield overnight._
   - _The glacier's ice has built up over thousands of years._
2. The area where a game of ice hockey is played, the surface the players skate on.
   - Simple: The area where a hockey game is played and the players skate.
   - _Both teams took the ice for warmups an hour before the puck dropped._
   - _The coach kept his top line on the ice for the final two minutes._
4. A dessert of fruit juice and water, sweetened with sugar and then frozen.
   - Simple: A cold sweet treat made by freezing fruit juice, water, and sugar.
   - _The shop on the corner sells lemon ice by the cup all summer._
   - _After the heavy meal, the restaurant served small ices made with blood oranges._
8. Something, such as awkwardness, that keeps people from interacting openly with each other.
   - Simple: Something, like awkwardness, that stops people from talking freely together.
   - _The host's silly name-tag game finally broke the ice._
   - _Months of shared lunches slowly melted the ice between the two departments._
11. Something marked by an extremely cold, unfriendly manner, such as a voice or a heart.
   - Simple: A very cold, unfriendly way of acting or speaking.
   - _The manager's reply was ice: a single line saying the matter was closed._
   - _Behind the polite smile, there was ice in his eyes whenever his brother walked in._
6. Icing or frosting: a sweet coating, often thick and creamy, made mainly of sugar. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: Icing, the sweet sugar coating on top of a cake.
   - _Every wedding had a square fruit cake with ice on it and a wee sugar bell on top._
   - _Once the sponge had cooled, Grandma spread a thick layer of pink ice over the top and let the children lick the bowl._
13. One or more diamonds, especially when worn as jewelry. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Diamonds, or a diamond, especially in jewelry.
   - _He spent his first big paycheck on enough ice to light up a room._
   - _He walked into the awards dinner wearing ice on both wrists and a heavy gold chain._
14. Methamphetamine in its crystalline form, used as an illegal stimulant drug. *(slang)*
   - Simple: An illegal drug, methamphetamine in the form of clear crystals.
   - _Treatment centers in the region report a rise in patients addicted to ice._
   - _The jury heard that the gang had been selling ice out of a rented garage._

## Verb

3. To cool something with ice, such as an injured part of the body or a drink.
   - Simple: To put ice on or in something to make it cold, like a hurt knee or a drink.
   - _Trainers told him to ice the shoulder twice a day until the swelling went down._
   - _The caterer iced the champagne in silver buckets an hour before the toast._
7. To cover a cake, tart, or similar baked item with icing, a sweet coating made of sugar mixed with milk or egg white.
   - Simple: To cover a cake or other sweet baked food with a sweet sugar coating.
   - _She iced the cinnamon rolls while they were still warm._
   - _Bakers often ice a layer cake in two coats, a thin one first to trap the crumbs._
9. To freeze or become covered with ice, or to make something do so.
   - Simple: To turn to ice or get covered in ice, or to make something do that.
   - _By morning the water in the horse trough had iced over completely._
   - _Shallow ponds ice over long before the deep lake does._
12. In sports, to put a victory out of the other side's reach, especially by scoring late so that the outcome is no longer in doubt. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: In sports, to make sure of a win, usually by scoring near the end so the other team cannot catch up.
   - _The Jets needed one more first down to ice the win, and their running back delivered it._
   - _A two-run homer in the eighth inning iced the series for the visitors._
15. To murder someone. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To kill a person on purpose.
   - _If he goes to the cops, they'll ice him, and he knows it._
   - _The hit man had iced three people before anyone learned his name._
16. To defeat an opponent decisively. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To beat someone easily and completely.
   - _My little sister completely iced me at chess last night, winning in under ten moves._
   - _Nobody gave the underdogs a chance, yet they went on to ice the league leaders by thirty points._
17. In ice hockey, to send the puck from your own half of the rink across the other team's goal line, which usually stops play for the infraction called icing.
   - Simple: In hockey, to send the puck from your half all the way past the other team's goal line, which usually stops play.
   - _Under heavy pressure in their own zone, the defenders iced the puck rather than risk a turnover._
   - _Coaches hate to see their players ice the puck late in a close game._
18. To field a team for a game or a season.
   - Simple: To put a team together and send it out to play.
   - _Injuries left the club struggling to ice a full lineup for Saturday's game._
   - _The expansion franchise iced a roster made up mostly of rookies._

## Proper noun · ICE

5. Short for Immigration and Customs Enforcement: the US federal agency that enforces immigration and customs laws, including arresting and deporting people. *(US)* — Acronym of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“law-enforcement agency responsible for immigration and customs matters of the United States Federal government”).
   - Simple: Short for Immigration and Customs Enforcement: the US government agency that enforces immigration and customs laws.
   - _Lawyers for the family asked ICE to delay the deportation until a judge could rule._
   - _An ICE spokesperson declined to comment on the arrests._

## Noun

10. A serving of ice cream. *(dated, UK)*
   - Simple: Some ice cream for one person.
   - _We sat on the promenade with our ices, watching the boats come in._
   - _Granny bought us each a vanilla ice from the van by the park gates._

## Other meanings

- (noun) In science, any frozen volatile substance such as water, ammonia, methane, or carbon dioxide, or such substances as a component of a planet or moon.
- (proper noun) Antarctica, as Americans working at its research stations often call it.
- (verb) To arrest or deport someone through Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- (noun) Money paid to someone as a bribe.
- (verb) To park a car with an internal combustion engine in a space reserved for electric cars, especially one with a charger.
- (noun) A single lump or cube of frozen water.
- (noun) Elephant tusks or rhino horns taken by poachers and traded illegally.
- (noun) A smuggled object, especially a clear or glittering one such as a gem.
- (noun) Short for internal compiler error, a crash caused by a bug inside the compiler rather than in the code it is given.
- (noun) Short for in-circuit emulator or in-circuit emulation, a hardware tool for debugging software on an embedded system, or the use of such a tool.
- (noun) Short for in-car entertainment, the audio, video and other media systems used in a vehicle.
- (noun) Short for Intercontinental Exchange, the company that runs futures and stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange.
- (adjective) Short for isolated, confined, and extreme, describing settings such as polar bases or spacecraft studied for their effects on people.

## Origin

From Middle English is, from Old English īs ("ice"), from Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH- ("ice, frost"). It is related to Dutch ijs, German Eis and Swedish is, and it replaced Middle English glace, a borrowing from Old French glace ("ice").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ice (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).