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ice crystals

American  

plural noun

Meteorology.
  1. precipitation consisting of small, slowly falling crystals of ice.


Etymology

Origin of ice crystals

First recorded in 1840–50

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.

"When the product reaches what we call the glass transition point, the ice crystals within the candy shift from ice to vapour at the speed of sound," Ms Goldfarb adds.

From BBC • Dec. 5, 2025

Invented in 1946 by General Electric scientists in upstate New York, cloud seeding works because silver iodide particles resemble ice crystals.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025

One idea is that the earliest spark of a lightning bolt could arise directly from charged ice crystals.

From Science Daily • Nov. 24, 2025

The bright yellow compound is known to latch onto water droplets that are already present in clouds, converting them into ice crystals that can fall as rain or snow, depending on the temperature below.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 21, 2025

We ran inside, shaking the ice crystals off our clothes.

From "The Red Umbrella" by Christina Gonzalez