ice anchor

noun

a large, hooklike device for setting in ice to anchor a vessel or to provide a hold for a hawser in warping it along.

Origin of ice anchor

First recorded in 1765–75

Allen had lowered the sail of the Spider and had tossed out a sharp-pronged ice anchor.
The Outdoor Girls in a Winter Camp | Laura Lee Hope
It condescendingly offered to do tugboat service for the "Advance," and invited its captain to throw aboard an ice-anchor.
North-Pole Voyages | Zachariah Atwell Mudge
It came sailing swiftly by, and into it they planted an ice-anchor attached to a tow line.
North-Pole Voyages | Zachariah Atwell Mudge
Shortly before noon further progress was barred by heavy pack, and we put an ice-anchor on the floe and banked the fires.
South! | Sir Ernest Shackleton
Then began a heart-breaking task of warping through the pack with ice-anchor, cable and winch.
Adrift in the Arctic Ice Pack | Elisha Kent Kane

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