igloo
Americannoun
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igloos
plural
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an Inuit house, being a dome-shaped hut usually built of blocks of hard snow.
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Informal. any dome-shaped construction thought to resemble an igloo.
immense silos topped with steel igloos.
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Military. a dome-shaped building for the storage of rockets or other munitions.
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an excavation made by a seal in the snow over its breathing hole in the ice.
noun
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a dome-shaped Inuit house, usually built of blocks of solid snow
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a hollow made by a seal in the snow over its breathing hole in the ice
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of igloo
First recorded in 1855–60, igloo is from the Inuit word iglu “house”
Explanation
An igloo is a type of hut built from snow, mainly by Inuits. An igloo has a domed shape and is made of compacted bricks of snow. Igloos, which are entirely built of snow blocks, have mostly been constructed by the Inuit tribes that live in parts of Canada and Greenland. Other Inuit groups have used snow, instead, to insulate homes made from other materials. Some igloos are built for temporary shelter, while others are permanent, warm housing in very cold climates. The noun igloo comes from an Inuit word, iglu, which means simply "house," no matter what it's constructed from.
Vocabulary lists containing igloo
Civilizations of the Americas, Lessons 3–4
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The Inuit Thought of It
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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:
One warning from experience: the folding chairs in the igloo were deeply uncomfortable, so ask if they can bring you one from inside.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
The igloo appeared as so-called "snow rollers" were being created in fields across the west mainland of Orkney.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2026
The polar station resembles an igloo placed on top of a large buoy.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
The capitals of the columns that support the colonnade bordering an enclosed garden don’t just feature angels and saints, but also Hopi dancers and an Inuit igloo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2023
It was not so good as the igloo we had made at Rainy Pass, but it kept out the fierce wind.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
In colder months, you can also book dinner in one of the restaurant’s outdoor igloos.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
“Once you walk in, you have no outside noise, no anything, you know, so, I mean, it’s incredibly peaceful,” he said of the igloos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
In addition, the area included small fire pits, heated igloos, carnival games and food trucks.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 29, 2023
His soldiers learned much from the Inuit, including building igloos, deciphering the meaning of snowdrifts, ice fishing, hunting and butchering caribou — and observing the moon dog and sun dog.
From New York Times ● Jun. 4, 2023
And when the clouds finally shredded themselves and the silvered moon looked down upon Phippsburg again, it looked down upon a town strangely changed, its sheds turned into hills, its woodpiles into igloos.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
