floe

First recorded in 1810–20; perhaps from Norwegian flo “layer” (compare Old Norse flō “layer, level”); cognate with Old English flōh “piece, flagstone”; cf. flaw¹

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH floe

floe , flow

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use floe in a sentence

In colder climates, melting arctic plates has forced polar bears to abandon their ice floes for dry land hunting.
How Climate Change Is Causing Chaos in the Animal Kingdom|Nina Strochlic|January 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Mud containing microscopic shells which only occur in Siberia has been collected on some of these southward-bound ice-floes.
McClure's Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 2, July, 1893|Various
Good progress was made to the south; the vessel dodging icebergs and detached floes.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson
The separate floes stood some ten or fifteen feet above the water-level, and the lengths of several exceeded a quarter of a mile.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson

Gradually there opened up a beautiful vista of sea, dotted with floes and rocky islets (many of which were ice-capped).
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson
About this time, too, we met numerous fields and floes of ice, to get through which we often experienced considerable difficulty.
Hudson Bay|R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for floe

floe

/ (fləʊ) /

noun

See ice floe

Word Origin for floe

C19: probably from Norwegian flo slab, layer, from Old Norse; see flaw 1

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

Scientific definitions for floe

floe

[ flō ]

A mass or sheet of floating ice.

floe

Origin of floe

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH floe

Words related to floe

How to use floe in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for floe

Word Origin for floe

Scientific definitions for floe