ice skate
noun
ice skate
1 American
ice-skate
2
American
[ahys-skeyt]
/ ˈaɪsˌskeɪt /
verb (used without object)
ice-skates,
present (3rd person singular)
ice-skated,
past participle, past
ice-skating
present participle
ice skate
British
noun
-
a boot having a steel blade fitted to the sole to enable the wearer to glide swiftly over ice
-
the steel blade on such a boot or shoe
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ice-skatesimple
-
ice-skatessimple
-
have ice-skatedperfect
-
has ice-skatedperfect
-
am ice-skatingprogressive
-
are ice-skatingprogressive
-
is ice-skatingprogressive
-
have been ice-skatingperfect progressive
-
has been ice-skatingperfect progressive
Past
-
ice-skatedsimple
-
had ice-skatedperfect
-
was ice-skatingprogressive
-
were ice-skatingprogressive
-
had been ice-skatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ice skate1
First recorded in 1895–1900
Origin of ice-skate2
First recorded in 1945–50; v. use of ice skate
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:
The youngest fell through first after trying to "ice skate" on the layer of ice on the water, Hangaman said, adding that the two older boys then jumped in after him.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
There in the snow, she’s tasked to swing heavy steel hooks on slippery floors and wield an ice skate like a knife.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2025
April was an energetic young mother who loved to move, and she and Hunter would bike near the river, rollerblade, and ice skate together.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2024
Among their inventions over the years were: a rubber shoe insert, a paper-making machine, an innovative ice skate.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 9, 2023
“Squirrels are fast. I’ll take the cookies instead, and I’ll ice skate the whole way.”
From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden
She adored teaching their daughter to ice-skate and would walk alongside her as she Rollerbladed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
Before you can play hockey, you need to be able to ice-skate comfortably.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2022
I’ve given birth twice; as a kid I snapped my ankle in half and had an ice-skate blade slice my chin open—things that hurt a lot.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2014
How does a Dalek put on an ice-skate?
From The Guardian ● Sep. 17, 2010
He even taught Mustafa how to ice-skate when he was little.
From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
As well as the perfume atomiser, Florjancic's inventions include plastic ice-skates and the plastic photographic slide frame.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2020
From Monte Carlo he moved to Villach, Austria, in 1963, where he would invent plastic ice-skates and the plastic photographic slide frame.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2011
L. C. Hamlin, Grand Junction, Mich., a U.S. flag 5 feet by 3 feet and a pair of extension, nickel-plated ice-skates for a watch.
From Golden Days for Boys and Girls Volume XIII, No. 51: November 12, 1892 by Elverson, James
The two presents that Sunny Boy liked most were a little pocket searchlight and his ice-skates.
From Sunny Boy and His Playmates by Hastings, Howard L. (Howard Livingston)
The youth carried two pairs of ice-skates slung over his shoulder; as he entered the room he flung them clattering to the floor.
From The Girl in the Golden Atom by Cummings, Ray
In the Pacific Northwest, some residents ice-skated on frozen streets in Seattle and Portland.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2022
“We have never ice-skated before so for us, this is better,” said Bibi Haniff, who is from Guyana and was visiting New York and the William Vale rink with her young daughter and son.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2020
I have swum in the Potomac, ice-skated on the Potomac, kayaked in the Potomac, rock-climbed along the Potomac, run along the Potomac, paddleboarded the Potomac, and just sat and listened along the Potomac.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 11, 2016
But it also helped that Mr. Breyer’s and Mr. Thurmond’s daughters were best friends and ice-skated together.
From New York Times ● Nov. 29, 2015
I ice-skated in my socks down the dustless linoleum hallway.
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
By 1953 one theater that was showing “Mr. Scoutmaster,” starring Clifton Webb, even featured an ice-skating show on its custom-built rink.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
On its Instagram account, the school has marketed a middle school soccer club and an ice-skating field trip.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2025
Their week so far has also included gymnastics, ice-skating and forest walks.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2024
Four winters ago, when her sons were playing ice hockey, Jenn Rogers and her family built an ice-skating rink in the backyard of their home in Braintree, just outside Boston.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2024
An hour later Mrs. Marvin drove the girls to the ice-skating rink in her red van.
From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene
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.
