noun | verb
iceice1 /aɪs/ ●●● S1 W2 noun [uncountable] 1
water that has frozen into a solid state: Drive carefully – there’s ice on the road. Do you want another ice cube in your drink? A thin sheet of ice had formed over the surface of the pond.2on ice a)drinks or food that are on ice are surrounded by or on top of ice to keep them cold: The fish are on ice, so they are kept fresh. b)being performed by people on ice skates: We went to a performance of the Nutcracker on ice.3put/keep something on ice to do nothing about a plan or suggestion for a period of time: Negotiations have been put on ice for now.4be (skating) on thin ice to be in a situation in which you do something risky that is likely to upset someone or cause trouble: Legally, the company is on very thin ice.5the ice a specially prepared surface of ice where you can ice skate or play ice hockey: The two teams are now all ready to take to the ice.6old-fashioned diamonds [Origin: Old English is] → see also black ice, break the ice at break1 (30), cut no ice at cut1 (28), dry ice, icyCOLLOCATIONSadjectivesthick ice Thick ice was preventing the ship from moving.thin ice The ice is too thin to skate on.black ice (=a layer of thin ice on a road that is very difficult to see) Black ice on the roads is making driving conditions very dangerous.crushed ice (=ice broken into small pieces, for example to add to a drink) Serve the drink with crushed ice.polar/Arctic/Antarctic ice (=large areas of ice at the North or South Pole) Polar ice is melting at an alarming rate.verbsbe covered in ice Our driveway was covered in ice.ice melts The ice in my glass had begun to melt.ice forms Ice was forming on the surface of the lake.ice cracks We could feel the ice cracking under our feet.ice + nounsan ice cube (=a small square piece of ice that you add to a drink) She put a couple of ice cubes in her glass.ice crystals (=very small pieces of ice that form naturally) Ice crystals fall from the sky as snowflakes.an ice cap/sheet (=a thick layer of ice that covers a large area of land) A large ice sheet covers most of Greenland.an ice shelf (=a layer of thick ice that forms on top of water near land) Pieces of the ice shelf had broken off and were floating in the ocean.an ice storm (=a storm in which water freezes) A lot of trees lost branches because of the ice storm. noun | verb
iceice2 verb [transitive] 1to cover a cake with icing (=a mixture made of liquid and sugar)2if you ice a game, you do something to put your team in a strong position to winice something ↔ down phrasal verb a)to cover an injury in ice to stop it from swelling: He iced down his sore shoulder. b)to put something in or on ice to make it coldice over/up phrasal verb to become covered with ice: Thousands of workers were sent home early as roads iced up.