ice age

See more synonyms for ice age on Thesaurus.com

noun Geology.

(often initial capital letters) the glacial epoch, especially the Pleistocene Epoch.

Origin of ice age

First recorded in 1870–75

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for ice age

Contemporary Examples of ice age

Take the case of the American bison: The ice-age bison evolved into the Plains buffalo, Bison bison, perhaps 10,000 years ago.
American Wilderness Faces the Firing Squad
Doug Peacock
July 6, 2014

Historical Examples of ice age

Nor is there any sign of moraines, glacier-scorings or other traces of the ice-age.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 2
Various
The ice-age might once more be renewed and wipe out our civilization.
The Spell of Switzerland
Nathan Haskell Dole
A full description of the effect of the great Ice-Age would occupy a volume.
The Story of Evolution
Joseph McCabe
We turn now to consider the effect of the great Ice-Age, and the relation of man to it.
The Story of Evolution
Joseph McCabe
The chief point to be determined is not whether man did or did not precede the Ice-Age.
The Story of Evolution
Joseph McCabe

British Dictionary definitions for ice age

ice age

noun

another name for glacial period

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

ice age in Science

ice age

Any of several cold periods during which glaciers covered much of the Earth.
Ice Age. The most recent glacial period, which occurred during the Pleistocene Epoch and ended about 10,000 years ago. During the Pleistocene Ice Age, great sheets of ice up to two miles thick covered most of Greenland, Canada, and the northern United States as well as northern Europe and Russia.