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Synonyms

glaciate

American  
[gley-shee-eyt, -see-] / ˈgleɪ ʃiˌeɪt, -si- /

verb (used with object)

glaciated, glaciating
  1. to cover with ice or glaciers.

  2. to affect by glacial action.


verb (used without object)

glaciated, glaciating
  1. to become frozen or covered with ice or glaciers.

glaciate British  
/ ˈɡleɪsɪˌeɪt /

verb

  1. to cover or become covered with glaciers or masses of ice

  2. (tr) to subject to the effects of glaciers, such as denudation and erosion

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of glaciate

1615–25; < Latin glaciātus (past participle of glaciāre to freeze), equivalent to glaci ( ēs ) ice + -ātus -ate 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Around him, candles burn in the frigid breeze and flowers glaciate at their stems.

From Barron's Jan. 26, 2026

The rugged, remote region was hours from any towns, and featured low-lying hills, steep alpine cliffsides, and "even glaciated terrain", he said.

From BBC Nov. 27, 2024

Taiwan's central mountain range is one of the steepest landscapes on Earth and has one of the highest erosion rates of any place outside glaciated or human-influenced areas, Carr said.

From Science Daily Dec. 15, 2023

Have you ever even considered skiing glaciated mountains?

From Seattle Times Feb. 16, 2023

That such a lush ecosystem could exist a half-million years into the Pleistocene suggests Greenland hadn’t yet fully glaciated, or the ecosystem arose during a warm interglacial period.

From Science Magazine Dec. 6, 2022

Emma shouted, and we all took off running after it, slipping and sliding on the ice, rounding the corner into the snow-choked alley that ran between the glaciated building and the one next to it.

From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs

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