ice giant

[ ahys jahy-uhnt ]

noun

, Astronomy.

1. a giant planet composed mostly of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium: the two ice giants in our solar system are Uranus and Neptune, previously classified as gas giants, but now known to be made primarily of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ice giant¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Researchers dubbed these omnipresent worlds “mini-Neptunes,” assuming them to be scaled-down versions of our solar system’s ice giants.

From Popular-Science

Inside the ice giants, however, these molecules mingle together into a slush that astronomers refer to generically as “ice”—hence the term ice giants.

From Nautilus

Given how much water is inside the ice giants, and given how many ice giants astronomers are finding around other stars, superionic ice may actually be the most common form of water in the universe.

From Nautilus

For the ice giant planets, however, the new technology had an opposite effect.

From Nautilus

Seasons on the ice giants are also unlike anything seen on Earth or anywhere else.

From Nautilus

It lies up there on the crest of the mountain like a mighty ice-giant peering down at us through the clefts.

From Project Gutenberg