whelping ice

noun

Newfoundland.

1. the ice on which a seal lies while giving birth in the spring.

Word History and Origins

Origin of whelping ice¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

In the winter he had to travel by dog team over wastes of "slob" ice and huge sheets of smooth "whelping ice."

Read more on Time Magazine Archive

T' standing ice never broke up from Christmas to April month; and there'd been ne'er a bit of whelping ice near enough to see with a spyglass, or a swatch big enough for an old harp to put his whiskers through.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Then there is the clearer, heavy Arctic ice with here and there huge icebergs frozen in; and again the smoother, whiter variety known as "whelping ice"—that is, the Arctic shore ice, born probably in Labrador, on which the seals give birth to their pups.

Read more on Project Gutenberg