the solid form of water, produced by freezing; frozen water.
the frozen surface of a body of water.
any substance resembling frozen water.
camphor ice.
a frozen dessert made of sweetened water and fruit juice.
British. ice cream.
icing, as on a cake.
reserve; formality.
The ice of his manner betrayed his dislike of the new ambassador.
Slang.
a diamond or diamonds.
protection money paid to the police by the operator of an illicit business.
a fee that a ticket broker pays to a theater manager in order to receive a favorable allotment of tickets.
to cover with ice.
to change into ice; freeze.
to cool with ice, as a drink.
to cover (cake, sweet rolls, etc.) with icing; frost.
to refrigerate with ice, as air.
to make cold, as if with ice.
to preserve by placing on ice.
Ice Hockey. (especially in Canada) to put (a team) into formal play.
Slang.
to settle or seal; make sure of, as by signing a contract.
We'll ice the deal tomorrow.
to make (a business arrangement) more attractive by adding features or benefits.
The star pitcher wouldn't sign his new contract until the team iced it with a big bonus.
to kill, especially to murder.
The mobsters threatened to ice him if he went to the police.
Sports Slang. to establish a winning score or insurmountable lead in or otherwise assure victory in (a game or contest).
Her second goal iced the game.
to change to ice; freeze.
The sherbet is icing in the refrigerator.
to be coated with ice (often followed byup ).
The windshield has iced up.
of or made of ice.
ice shavings;
an ice sculpture.
for holding ice and food or drink to be chilled.
an ice bucket;
an ice chest.
on or done on the ice.
ice yachting.
ice it, stop it; that's enough.
You've been complaining all day, so ice it.
break the ice,
to succeed initially; make a beginning.
to overcome reserve, awkwardness, or formality within a group, as in introducing persons.
The chairman broke the ice with his warm and very amusing remarks.
ice the puck, to hit the puck to the far end of the rink, especially from the defensive area across the offensive area.
on thin ice, in a precarious or delicate situation: Also skating on thin ice.
You may pass the course, but you're on thin ice right now.
on ice,
with a good chance of success or realization.
Now that the contract is on ice we can begin operating again.
out of activity, as in confinement or imprisonment.
in a state of abeyance or readiness.
Let's put that topic on ice for the moment.
cut no ice, to have no influence or importance; fail to impress.
Her father's position cuts no ice with me.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement: a federal agency tasked with interior enforcement of U.S. customs and immigration laws, including cross-border investigations of criminal activity, and the arrest, detention, and removal of undocumented aliens.
in case of emergency: (usually designating an emergency-contact phone number in one's cell phone contact list).
The paramedic found my mom's ICE number immediately.
Iceland.
Icelandic.
water in the solid state, formed by freezing liquid water
a portion of ice cream
slang a diamond or diamonds
the field of play in ice hockey
slang a concentrated and highly potent form of methamphetamine with dangerous side effects
to relieve shyness, etc, esp between strangers
to be the first of a group to do something
informal to fail to make an impression
in abeyance; pending
unsafe or unsafely; vulnerable or vulnerably
informal Antarctica
to form or cause to form ice; freeze
(tr) to mix with ice or chill (a drink, etc)
(tr) to cover (a cake, etc) with icing
slang (tr) to kill
to shoot the puck from one end of the rink to the other
to select which players will play in a game
A solid consisting of frozen water. Ice forms at or below a temperature of 0°C (32°F). Ice expands during the process of freezing, with the result that its density is lower than that of water.
A solid form of a substance, especially of a substance that is a liquid or a gas at room temperature at sea level on Earth. The nuclei of many comets contain methane ice.
What else does ICE mean? ICE stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security.
First recorded before 900; 1905–10 ice for def. 8a; Middle English, Old English īs; cognate with German Eis, Old Norse īss
Middle English -ice, -ise < Old French < Latin -itius, -itia, -itium abstract noun suffix
Ice is water that's gotten cold enough to freeze solid. When the pond in your neighborhood is solid ice in January, it's safe to skate on. Ice takes many forms; you might slip on the ice, scrape sheets of ice off your car windows, or drop ice into your drink. In every case, the ice is frozen water, and when it freezes, it ices, the way roads ice over on winter nights. When you sprain your wrist, you should probably ice it, or hold ice on the injured area. You can also ice — or frost — a cupcake, or eat a sweet, cold fruit-flavored ice.
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To extricate itself, Unilever eventually transferred to the Israeli licensee the assets needed to sell Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and its territories—for as long as he desires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Restaurants and producers are hatching creative offerings such as foie gras ice cream, blueberry-flavored foie gras or sushi rolls topped with the delicacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
These frozen environments contain ice that may have trapped material delivered by comets and asteroids billions of years ago.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026
Gus regularly meets adults who remember buying ice creams from him as children - who now arrive with families of their own.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Torak and Renn lay panting at the edge .of the ice hale.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
The president encouraged ICE officers to be “judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
This could support the company’s bancassurance fees as insurance premiums on EV cars are higher than for ICE cars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
But ICE has provided no proof, and in Araujo’s case, eyewitnesses say the agency is lying about what happened.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
An ICE spokesperson said the agency wouldn’t discuss law enforcement tactics but that “we are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
I know about ICE, and I know they can’t take citizens like me and Mom away, so you won’t scare me.
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
Mixed doubles curling continues and we add another two sports into the mix -ice hockey and moguls skiing.
From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2022
“Welcome to Ice. … Your duty location is New York, New York. Your EOD was on Tuesday, September 30th, 2025.”
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026
I’m like, ‘Well, you’re not my enemy. There’s another Ice. You don’t want to meet him.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2024
“They demo’d it to Ice. The FBI is testing it.”
From The Guardian ● Jan. 31, 2019
As she celebrated on the court, she pointed to the vein in the crook of her shooting arm and said “Ice. Ice. Ice.”
From Washington Times ● Apr. 2, 2018
But Getheren went on, and after two days’ journey came to the Pering Ice.**
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
What ices it is that Quraishi offered to postpone this hearing given Judge Brann’s ruling that the office is operating illegally.
From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026
In addition to gaseous compounds, the team found large quantities of solid materials, including carbon-rich grains and water ices.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 12, 2026
As polar ices melt in the coming years, new shipping routes are expected to open up.
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2026
These objects are similar to asteroids, except they contain ices such as water or carbon dioxide.
From Salon ● May 16, 2024
Piragua! sells shaved ices from a white cart filled with bottles and bottles of fruit-flavored syrup colored red and purple, orange and blue.
From "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
The staircase leading to the top of the confinement iced over, making the ascent more perilous.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Gigi always held court and, like good Southerners, we would not only share important life updates but also gossip over iced drinks.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
"Hanoi is only Hanoi if we can have sidewalk iced tea".
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
Maya Hawke sits at a picnic table in Griffith Park with an iced tea and a small notebook and happily reports that she still likes her new record.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026
Frankie and I drank sweet iced cocoa at a teahouse in the Java Village, with a view of Ireland across the midway.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Any enrichment and information is icing on the cake.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Your Social Security is the icing on the proverbial retirement cake.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
"But if all our instruments are powered up, and we can do important testing and calibration of the science instruments, that would be the icing on the cake."
From Science Daily ● May 11, 2026
But the game turned on what the Ducks thought was a missed icing call just ahead of Barbashev’s goal, which came 65 seconds after Granlund tied the score.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026
Beans was scooping chocolate icing from the birthday cake onto his finger.
From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
