ice axe

British

noun

a light axe used by mountaineers for cutting footholds in snow or ice, to provide an anchor point, or to control a slide on snow; it has a spiked tip and a head consisting of a pick and an adze

"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

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.

He said this meant crampons and an ice axe were also needed.

From BBC • Jan. 6, 2023

Crossing the High Sierra in June usually means slow going over deep snow, with crampons on your boots and an ice axe in hand.

From New York Times • Aug. 31, 2022

Might that film show Mallory, ice axe held triumphantly over his head, standing on top of the world?

From Salon • Apr. 8, 2022

Dares moves quickly up the hill using an ice axe to bite into moss, scrambling over rocks and ducking trees.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 1, 2021

Using a soup ladle attached to an ice axe, Swanson reached out, straining to touch the ground as the helicopter lowered nearer and nearer the summit.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023