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
Explanation
Icebox is an old-fashioned word for "refrigerator." Better get those bottles the milkman left on the porch and put them in the icebox — it's hot outside! Before the invention of electric refrigerators in the early 20th century, people used iceboxes to keep their perishable food chilled. These insulated cabinets evolved from outdoor ice houses, which continued to be useful for storing the ice used in kitchen iceboxes. An "iceman" would deliver fresh ice daily or weekly, and it would remain frozen inside the wooden, metal-lined icebox long enough to keep food safe. Icebox is also used regionally to refer to the modern fridge.
Vocabulary lists containing icebox
Chapter 23: Rise to World Power
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Turtle in Paradise
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Vocabulary from Readings 3, Unit 1
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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.
Baking with Ish offers a Ube Tiramisu Icebox Pie as a raffle prize.
From Salon • Jun. 19, 2025
For literal moxie, peep T-Pain’s $400,000 pendant from Icebox Jewelers, with 200 carats of diamonds spelling out “Big Ass Chain.”
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2022
Mo acknowledged that Icebox clients will shop at other jewelry stores.
From New York Times • Sep. 30, 2021
Lil Baby is such a fan of the store that he requested Icebox install a pop-up shop at his most recent birthday party, which was diamond-themed.
From New York Times • Sep. 30, 2021
“I walk all up and down that place,” said Lil Yachty, who estimates that he’s spent around $3 million with Icebox over the past five years.
From New York Times • Sep. 30, 2021
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.
