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View synonyms for iceberg

iceberg

[ ahys-burg ]

noun

  1. a large floating mass of ice, detached from a glacier and carried out to sea.
  2. Informal. an emotionally cold person.
  3. Australian Informal. a person who swims or surfs regularly in winter.


iceberg

/ ˈaɪsbɜːɡ /

noun

  1. a large mass of ice floating in the sea, esp a mass that has broken off a polar glacier
  2. tip of the iceberg
    the small visible part of something, esp a problem or difficulty, that is much larger
  3. slang.
    a person considered to have a cold or reserved manner
“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


iceberg

/ īsbûrg′ /

  1. A massive body of floating ice that has broken away from a glacier or ice field. Most of an iceberg lies underwater, but because ice is not as dense as water, about one ninth of it remains above the surface.


iceberg

  1. A large piece of ice that has broken away from a glacier at the shore and floated out to sea.


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Notes

Most of the ice in an iceberg is underwater, leaving only the “tip of the iceberg” visible — a fact that is often alluded to in discussions of subjects in which the most important aspects are hidden from view.
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Word History and Origins

Origin of iceberg1

1765–75; half Anglicization, half adoption of Dutch ijsberg ice mountain; cognate with German Eisberg, Swedish isberg
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Word History and Origins

Origin of iceberg1

C18: probably part translation of Middle Dutch ijsberg ice mountain; compare Norwegian isberg
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. tip of the iceberg, the first hint or revelation of something larger or more complex:

    The new evidence in the case is just the tip of the iceberg.

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Example Sentences

Researchers tend to catch the severest cases — the tip of the iceberg — and that doesn’t necessarily give you a full picture of what’s going on.

Looking at the number of reported cases is the next best option, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

When it comes to the question of whether to have a baby, affordable, high-quality child care is just the tip of the iceberg.

Our right to live in a healthy environment will be threatened, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

From Vox

The world’s biggest iceberg, the size of Delaware and Rhode Island, is breaking up and drifting out the Southern Ocean.

In Russia, Uganda, and elsewhere around the world, legal change is the tip of the iceberg.

The recent botched executions are just the tip of the iceberg.

The logic here was a little unsound—if I remember the S.S. Titanic story, “Iceberg” would have been the right name.

Confusion over the catcher's eye black is just the tip of the iceberg for this befuddled limey.

As far as cash-grabs go, the VIP pass is only the tip of the iceberg.

During these fourteen days we saw very few whales or albatrosses, and not one iceberg.

She was an iceberg,—a beautiful kill-joy,—a wet blanket of charming texture.

Greatly agitated, she approached her instructor, when Mr. Read walked in;—a cynical iceberg!

An iceberg may be defined as a detached portion of a polar glacier carried out to sea.

“The fishermen of my country can feel the chill of an iceberg through the fog and the night,” she said at last.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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