ice shelf

noun

an ice sheet projecting into coastal waters so that the end floats.

Origin of ice shelf

First recorded in 1910–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ice shelf

Historical Examples of ice shelf

To raise the packages from the floe to the top of the ice-shelf, a "flying-fox" was rigged.
The Home of the Blizzard
Douglas Mawson

British Dictionary definitions for ice shelf

ice shelf

noun

a thick mass of ice that is permanently attached to the land but projects into and floats on the sea

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