ice age

American  

[ahys eyj] / ˈaɪs ˌeɪdʒ /

noun

Geology.

ice ages plural

1. a geologic period during which ice thickly covers vast masses of land.

   astronomical phenomena related to the widespread glaciation of ice ages.

2. Ice Age, the most recent of the earth’s many ice ages, occurring during the Pleistocene Epoch.

   Our familiar continents were shaped quite differently before the Ice Age.

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ice age British  

noun

1. another name for glacial period

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ice age Scientific  

1. Any of several cold periods during which glaciers covered much of the Earth.

2. 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.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ice ages
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ice age

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ice age

Britain and north-west Europe would not be pushed back into an ice age, he says.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

The return of humans to Britain after the last ice age provides scientists with an important opportunity to study how climate and environmental change influenced migration and survival.

From Science Daily ● May 13, 2026

Sir Keir Starmer's visit to China this week is the clearest sign yet the two countries are seeking to end the diplomatic "ice age" that has defined their relationship.

From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2026

"At the end of the day, does it matter much if the start of the next ice age is 50, 100, or 200 thousand years into the future?"

From Science Daily ● Dec. 21, 2025

During the last ice age it experienced what geologists call a periglacial climate—a zone at the edge of an ice sheet characterized by frequent freeze-thaw cycles that fractured the rock.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson