ice jam

American  

noun

1. an obstruction of broken river ice in a narrow part of a channel.

2. a mass of lake or sea ice broken and piled up against the shore by wind pressure.

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Etymology

Origin of ice jam

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

It’s difficult to predict when the ice jam could break, said Crane Johnson, a hydrologist with the weather service’s Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center.

From Seattle Times • May 13, 2021

The ice jam follows a winter storm earlier this week that dropped nearly a foot of snow in some areas and sent temperatures into the single digits.

From Washington Times • Jan. 29, 2021

In Newaygo County, Mich., where a 21-mile ice jam on the Muskegon River had flooded yards and closed a bridge, the warm-up was welcome.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2019

Watch drone footage of the Susquehanna River ice jam:

From Washington Post • Jan. 17, 2018

No hills shut out the cold winds that swept down the river bed from the north, and the tide carried in ice jam from the south.

From Canada: the Empire of the North Being the Romantic Story of the New Dominion's Growth from Colony to Kingdom by Laut, Agnes C. (Agnes Christina)