icicle

[ ahy-si-kuhl ]
See synonyms for: icicleicicled on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a pendent, tapering mass of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water.

  2. a thin strip of paper, plastic, or foil, usually silvery, for hanging on a Christmas tree as decoration.

  1. a cold, unemotional person.

Origin of icicle

1
before 1000; Middle English isikel,Old English īsgicel, equivalent to īsice + gicel icicle; akin to Old Norse jǫkul mass of ice, glacier

Other words from icicle

  • i·ci·cled, adjective

Words Nearby icicle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use icicle in a sentence

  • It was only a long icicle, and all Jack had to do was to touch the reindeer with its point to make them run faster and faster.

    Seven O'Clock Stories | Robert Gordon Anderson
  • Then without warning the icicle struck something frozen in the ice.

    Ghost Beyond the Gate | Mildred A. Wirt
  • More than human he seemed, there under the icicle loom of the stern-post, his gray hair and beard rigid with ice.

    The Valor of Cappen Varra | Poul William Anderson
  • As cool as an icicle, the man stretched himself out again, half on the deck and half in the cab of the launch.

    The Hero of Panama | F. S. Brereton

British Dictionary definitions for icicle

icicle

/ (ˈaɪsɪkəl) /


noun
  1. a hanging spike of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water

Origin of icicle

1
C14: from ice + ickel, from Old English gicel icicle, related to Old Norse jökull large piece of ice, glacier

Derived forms of icicle

  • icicled, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012