icicle
[ ahy-si-kuh l ]
/ ˈaɪ sɪ kəl /
noun
a pendent, tapering mass of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water.
a thin strip of paper, plastic, or foil, usually silvery, for hanging on a Christmas tree as decoration.
a cold, unemotional person.
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
- ichthyosis uteri,
- ichthyosis vulgaris,
- ichthyotic,
- ichthyotoxism,
- ici,
- icily,
- iciness,
- icing,
- icing on the cake,
- icing sugar
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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for icicle
icicle
/ (ˈaɪsɪkəl) /
noun
a hanging spike of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water
Word Origin for icicle
C14: from ice + ickel, from Old English gicel icicle, related to Old Norse jökull large piece of ice, glacier
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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icicle
early 14c., isykle, from is "ice" + ikel "icicle," from Old English gicel "icicle, ice" (rel. to cylegicel "cold ice"), from Proto-Germanic *jekilaz (cf. Old Norse jaki "piece of ice," diminutive jökull "icicle, ice, glacier;" Old High German ihilla "icicle"), from PIE *yeg- "ice." Dialectal ickle "icicle" survived into 20c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper