icebox
Americannoun
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an insulated cabinet or chest with a partition for ice, used for preserving or cooling food, beverages, etc.
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Older Use. an electric or gas refrigerator.
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Nautical. an enclosed area in the bottom of a vessel through which sea water can be pumped up for use in the condenser in icy waters.
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Slang. an isolation cell in a prison.
noun
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a compartment in a refrigerator for storing or making ice
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an insulated cabinet packed with ice for storing food
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a refrigerator
Etymology
Origin of icebox
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.
Miraculously, the line of people that usually snakes down Melrose yearning for a slice of chef Karla Subero Pittol’s passion lime fruit icebox pie is nonexistent today.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026
Airport authorities and police seized six pieces of rhinoceros horn and around 12 kilograms of unidentified meat used to conceal them inside a polystyrene icebox.
From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026
For $100 out of my own pocket, I hired a pro who typically charges $400 or more to help make my two-century-old home feel less like an icebox in winter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025
I’ve been thinking about icebox cakes all summer, mostly because I’ve been thinking about how to avoid sweating through my clothes and still bring something nice to a dinner.
From Salon • Jul. 29, 2025
Madame Manec snaps open the door of the icebox.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
