icebreaker
Americannoun
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Also called: iceboat. a vessel with a reinforced bow for breaking up the ice in bodies of water to keep channels open for navigation
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any tool or device for breaking ice into smaller pieces
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something intended to relieve mutual shyness at a gathering of strangers
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of icebreaker
Explanation
An icebreaker can be an exercise or game that's meant to introduce people to each other in a fun, relaxed way. You know the first day of school, when you are asked to share your favorite stuffed animal — that's an icebreaker. If you invite party guests who've never met, you might play a game or tell some jokes as an icebreaker. A more formal icebreaker could involve games or songs that help people remember each other's names, for example. In this metaphor, the "ice" is the tension caused by being in an unfamiliar situation or meeting new people. The original icebreaker was literally that: a ship designed to break through ice in frozen channels at sea.
Vocabulary lists containing icebreaker
The Poet X
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Save Me a Seat
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"Dogs at Work"
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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:
That year, Dans said on Substack that he was the “first American” to launch an effort to buy the Helsinki Shipyard in Finland, where about half the global icebreaker fleet was built.
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026
And even after warming, an icebreaker is still sometimes needed to help the cargo ship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Scientists will carry out coordinated observations from the Polarstern research icebreaker, aboard AWI research aircraft and at sites on land.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026
He showed up a minute later, eyeing the contents of my shopping cart and used the cat food in it as an icebreaker to ask about my cat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
But at least we never want for an icebreaker as long as you keep getting them.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
“They’re the largest builder of icebreakers and ice-class vessels in the world,” Dans said at an event in Anchorage, Alaska, in April.
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026
He has repeatedly said, for example, that the U.S. needs more icebreakers, ships that Trump has long viewed as critical to dominating the Arctic.
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026
The icebreakers will be used to open winter shipping routes through Canada's northern and Atlantic waters.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Most container ships using the NSR need to be escorted by Russia's fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
In my mind I ran through a couple of icebreakers.
From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
