icicle
[ahy-si-kuh l]
- 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.
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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. 2018
Examples from the Web for icicle
Contemporary Examples
Is stabbing someone with an icicle really the perfect crime?
The coldness of his body through the bag jolts me like an icicle through my heart.
Historical Examples
An icicle hanging on one's nose is a simple sort of humour in any case.
Alarms and DiscursionsG. K. Chesterton
I have seen a great army thaw away like an icicle in the sunshine.
Micah ClarkeArthur Conan Doyle
Jed was conscious of a cold sensation, like the touch of an icicle, up and down his spine.
ShavingsJoseph C. Lincoln
Thou art hot-tempered and boyish, but I am cold as an icicle.
In the Days of DrakeJ. S. Fletcher
He doesn't say for how long, and acts the icicle in the presence of others.
Secret Memoirs: The Story of Louise, Crown PrincessHenry W. Fischer
icicle
- a hanging spike of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water
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Word Origin
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
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for icicle
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper