ice cream

American  

noun

1. a frozen food containing cream or milk and butterfat, sugar, flavoring, and sometimes eggs.

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ice cream British  

noun

1. a kind of sweetened frozen liquid, properly made from cream and egg yolks but often made from milk or a custard base, flavoured in various ways

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Etymology

Origin of ice cream

First recorded in 1735–45

Compare meaning

How does ice-cream compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• sorbet vs. ice cream
• custard vs. ice cream
• ice milk vs. ice cream
• frozen custard vs. ice cream

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ice cream

The goal is get groups to make it through an entire meal without checking their phones, with free ice cream as a reward.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

We finished with vanilla ice cream, fragrant olive oil and a generous scoop of caviar.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

For an ice cream truck visiting a summer camp, the TAM is all the kids at the camp multiplied by how much ice cream each kid would buy that summer.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

Staff at a much-loved family-run ice cream business say they are "devastated" after announcing it is closing its doors after 106 years of business due to rising costs.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

I was shocked—Mom usually skipped dessert, not dinner—but excited about a meal of just ice cream.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Related Words

• frozen yogurt
• sherbet
• sorbet