drift ice

noun

detached floating ice in masses that drift with the wind or ocean currents, as in the polar seas.

Nearby words

driesch, driest, drift, drift anchor, drift angle, drift ice, drift indicator, drift lead, drift mine, drift net, drift netter

Origin of drift ice

First recorded in 1590–1600

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for drift ice

This seemed a needless precaution, for the pieces of drift-ice were hardly large enough to have crushed a skiff.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 93, July, 1865|Various
During the spring the drift-ice pressed in an insignificant part of one of the many points on the outer edge of the Barrier.
The South Pole, Volumes 1 and 2|Roald Amundsen
Defiance has gathered like drift-ice in your breast, shutting out all that would come through to bring you good.
The Vinland Champions|Ottilie A. Liljencrantz
Yet we dared not think our life on the drift-ice was so nearly at an end.
Farthest North|Fridtjof Nansen

Open places were often met with, which the travellers had to cross on pieces of drift-ice rowed forward by boat-hooks.
The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II|A.E. Nordenskieold

British Dictionary definitions for drift ice

drift ice

noun

masses of ice floating in the open sea

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

drift ice

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of drift ice

Examples from the Web for drift ice

British Dictionary definitions for drift ice

drift ice

noun