icicle
Americannoun
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icicles
plural
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a pendent, tapering mass of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water.
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a thin strip of paper, plastic, or foil, usually silvery, for hanging on a Christmas tree as decoration.
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a cold, unemotional person.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of icicle
before 1000; Middle English isikel, Old English īsgicel, equivalent to īs ice + gicel icicle; akin to Old Norse jǫkul mass of ice, glacier
Explanation
An icicle is a long thin piece of ice formed when dripping water freezes, like the icicles you see hanging from houses after a winter storm. Icicle rhymes with bicycle. Under certain conditions, snow or ice will form into icicles. On a winter day, the sun melts snow or ice which begins to drip, especially from the edge of a roof. The melting water then refreezes, slowly building up to form a long, tapered shape. Icicle is slang for a person who is emotionally cold, like the icicle of a friend who ignores you when you need some moral support.
Vocabulary lists containing icicle
Wintry Words
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Shiloh
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Week 2 Spelling
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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.
See Examples For:
In the lounge, where Pike and his roommate host dinner parties, icicle lights hang from the ceiling and cases of Coca-Cola are stored in a corner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
Drops will continue to run down the icicle, freezing at the end, to give the icicle its distinctive shape.
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2025
There were icicle lights outside their rural Georgia home, garland on the banister and stockings hanging above the fireplace.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 21, 2023
Christmas lights were strung across cactus plants, and icicle lights dangled from the carport ceiling.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 24, 2022
They reached again and again for a high note, yearning toward a high note, which they found at last and held— an icicle in the desert.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
His courtside seat at basketball team Toronto Raptors' stadium was recently decorated with icicles and, last month, a giant pile of ice blocks appeared in the city with the album's release date encased inside.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
The persistent plunk, plunk, plunk of icicles dripping into an aluminum gutter — a sound that is less birdsong than plumbing.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
Check out the three-foot icicles dripping from the eaves and keep an eye out for the big boulder by the fire station on the right.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2026
So they began offering a slightly tweaked version of their own Reid-inspired cake called the “Andy Reidcicle Cake,” where his mustache looks as if it is icicles.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 4, 2024
Not these knife-sharp crags and gaping gullies, these icicles taller than trees.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.
