α. 1800s– ice floe.
β. 1800s– ice flow.
ice floen.
/ˈʌɪs fləʊ/, U.S. /ˈaɪs ˌfloʊ/ A sheet or expanse of floating sea ice; = floe n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > ice > body of ice > [noun] > floe
flake1555
shoal1648
floe1817
ice floe1819
floe-ice1853
1819 Edinb. Rev. 31 341 Jammed in between two ice-floes.
1829 J. MacTaggart Three Years in Canada II. 233 Plenty of white bears arrived on the ice-flows every year.
1882 H. Lansdell Through Siberia I. 198 A dense mass of ice-floes and pack-ice rushed irresistibly up the Kureika.
1912 Boys' Life Feb. 20/2 An hour later the little ‘Mermaid’..was ploughing her way northwards among the ice-floes which dotted the glassy Arctic sea.
1991 Traveller Winter 37 Later that afternoon the dinghy drivers wove their way between small ice flows so we might land on Paulet Island's stony beach.
2004 T. Wheeler Falklands & S. Georgia 181 Zodiacs are..ideal for cruising among icebergs and ice floes and for landing in otherwise inaccessible areas.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1819