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ice

n. C / U
A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈaɪs// UK //ˈaɪs// ice Archaic Dialect General-service Slang

n. water that has frozen into a solid because it is very cold.

n. water frozen into a solid state. Uncountable when referring to the substance generally; countable when referring to specific portions or blocks.


SIMPLE

The lake is covered in thick ice.

CONTEXTUAL

Be careful walking on the sidewalk because there is a thin layer of ice from last night's storm.

COMPLEX

Climate scientists monitor the thickness of Arctic ice to track how rising global temperatures affect the planet's overall cooling systems and sea levels.

Synonyms
Origin

From Middle English hyse, hyys, ice, ijs, is, yce, ys, yys, from Old English īs, from Proto-West Germanic īs, from Proto-Germanic īsą (“ice”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH- (“ice, frost”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian Iis, is (“ice”), Saterland Frisian Ies (“ice”), West Frisian iis (“ice”), Alemannic German Iis, isch, éisch (“ice”), Bavarian, Cimbrian, and Mòcheno ais (“ice”), Dutch ijs (“ice”), German Eis (“ice”), German Low German Ies (“ice”), Luxembourgish Äis (“ice”), Vilamovian ajs (“ice”), Yiddish אײַז (ayz, “ice”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish is (“ice”), Elfdalian ais (“ice”), Faroese ísur (“ice”), Icelandic ís (“ice”); also Cornish yey (“ice”), yeyn (“cold”), Irish oighear (“ice”), Scottish Gaelic deigh, eigh, eighre (“ice”), Welsh iâ (“ice”), Lithuanian ýnis (“hoar frost”), Bulgarian and Russian и́ней (ínej, “hoar frost”), Czech jíní (“frost”), Macedonian and Serbo-Croatian и́ње (“hoar frost”), Ukrainian і́ній (ínij, “hoar frost, rime”), Ossetian их (ix, “ice”), Armenian եղյամ (eġyam, “frost, hoar frost, rime”), Persian یخ (yax, “ice”), Hittite 𒂊𒃷 (“ice”). Superseded non-native Middle English glace (“ice”), borrowed from Old French glace (“ice”).

Usage

Often used as a modifier before other nouns, such as 'ice cube' or 'ice storm'.

Idioms13 entries

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