reserve; formality: The ice of his manner betrayed his dislike of the new ambassador.
Slang.
a diamond or diamonds.
protection money paid to the police by the operator of an illicit business.
a fee that a ticket broker pays to a theater manager in order to receive a favorable allotment of tickets.
verb (used with object),iced,ic·ing.
to cover with ice.
to change into ice; freeze.
to cool with ice, as a drink.
to cover (cake, sweet rolls, etc.) with icing; frost.
to refrigerate with ice, as air.
to make cold, as if with ice.
to preserve by placing on ice.
Ice Hockey. (especially in Canada) to put (a team) into formal play.
Slang.
to settle or seal; make sure of, as by signing a contract: We'll ice the deal tomorrow.
to make (a business arrangement) more attractive by adding features or benefits: The star pitcher wouldn't sign his new contract until the team iced it with a big bonus.
to kill, especially to murder: The mobsters threatened to ice him if he went to the police.
SportsSlang. to establish a winning score or insurmountable lead in or otherwise assure victory in (a game or contest): Her second goal iced the game.
verb (used without object),iced,ic·ing.
to change to ice; freeze: The sherbet is icing in the refrigerator.
to be coated with ice (often followed by up): The windshield has iced up.
adjective
of or made of ice: ice shavings; an ice sculpture.
for holding ice and food or drink to be chilled: an ice bucket; an ice chest.
on or done on the ice: ice yachting.
Idioms
break the ice,
to succeed initially; make a beginning.
to overcome reserve, awkwardness, or formality within a group, as in introducing persons: The chairman broke the ice with his warm and very amusing remarks.
cut no ice, Informal. to have no influence or importance; fail to impress: Her father's position cuts no ice with me.
ice it, Slang. stop it; that's enough: You've been complaining all day, so ice it.
ice the puck, Ice Hockey. to hit the puck to the far end of the rink, especially from the defensive area across the offensive area.
on ice, Informal.
with a good chance of success or realization: Now that the contract is on ice we can begin operating again.
out of activity, as in confinement or imprisonment.
in a state of abeyance or readiness: Let's put that topic on ice for the moment.
on thin ice, in a precarious or delicate situation: You may pass the course, but you're on thin ice right now.Also skating on thin ice.
Origin of ice
before 900;1905–10for def 8a; Middle English,Old Englishīs; cognate with GermanEis,Old Norseīss
Related formsice·less, adjectiveice·like, adjectivere·ice, verb,re·iced,re·ic·ing.un·ice, verb (used with object),un·iced,un·ic·ing.
Old English is "ice" (also the name of the rune for -i-), from Proto-Germanic *isa- (cf. Old Norse iss, Old Frisian is, Dutch ijs, German Eis), with no certain cognates beyond Germanic, though possible relatives are Avestan aexa- "frost, ice," isu- "frosty, icy;" Afghan asai "frost." Slang meaning "diamonds" is attested from 1906.
Ice cube attested from 1904. Ice age attested from 1832. To break the ice "to make the first opening to any attempt" is from 1580s, metaphoric of making passages for boats by breaking up river ice though in modern use usually with implications of "cold reserve."
ice
v.
c.1400, ysen, "cover with ice," from ice (n.). Related: Iced; icing.
A solid consisting of frozen water. Ice forms at or below a temperature of 0°C (32°F). Ice expands during the process of freezing, with the result that its density is lower than that of water.
A solid form of a substance, especially of a substance that is a liquid or a gas at room temperature at sea level on Earth. The nuclei of many comets contain methane ice.
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