ice-cream social

American  

noun

Chiefly Northern, North Midland, and Western U.S.

1. a social gathering, usually to raise money for a local church or school, where ice cream is the principal refreshment.

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Etymology

Origin of ice-cream social

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Example Sentences

On their first Fourth of July in town, Castle and Spalding threw an ice-cream social, complete with gallons of homemade toppings, then sat around worrying that no one would show up.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 24, 2018

The ice-cream social has become an annual ritual; this Independence Day, Spalding and Castle gave away more than four hundred sundaes.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 24, 2018

Prevette wasn’t suspended—he was kept out of his classroom for one day and missed an ice-cream social.

From Slate • Feb. 5, 2018

An old-fashioned festival with sack races, seed-spitting contests and an ice-cream social will follow.

From New York Times • Jun. 27, 2013

This, the women declared, they would speedily pay off by a big cake and ice-cream social in the hall.

From Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1902 to 1903 by Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud)