ice cream

American  

noun

1. a frozen food containing cream or milk and butterfat, sugar, flavoring, and sometimes eggs.

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ice cream British  

noun

1. a kind of sweetened frozen liquid, properly made from cream and egg yolks but often made from milk or a custard base, flavoured in various ways

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Etymology

Origin of ice cream

First recorded in 1735–45

Compare meaning

How does ice-cream compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• custard vs. ice cream
• sorbet vs. ice cream
• ice milk vs. ice cream
• frozen custard vs. ice cream

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ice cream

He added: "I know they've done it with a florist before, and I think they've done it with an ice cream parlour before."

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

You can also suggest you all do different, less-costly activities like going to a park or grabbing ice cream.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

She bribes the boys with ice cream so they’ll indulge her road trips into butterfly country, and even then, compliance is sometimes grudging.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Right now it’s banana ice cream with blueberries and it’s heaven.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

“Oh,” said the ice cream lady, looking back and forth.

From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn

Related Words

• frozen yogurt
• sherbet
• sorbet