ice

¹

[ ahys ]

noun

1. the solid form of water, produced by freezing; frozen water.
2. the frozen surface of a body of water.
3. any substance resembling frozen water:

   camphor ice.

4. a frozen dessert made of sweetened water and fruit juice.
5. British. ice cream.
6. icing, as on a cake.
7. reserve; formality:

   The ice of his manner betrayed his dislike of the new ambassador.

8. Slang.
   1. a diamond or diamonds.
   2. protection money paid to the police by the operator of an illicit business.
   3. a fee that a ticket broker pays to a theater manager in order to receive a favorable allotment of tickets.

verb (used with object)

, iced, ic·ing.

1. to cover with ice.
2. to change into ice; freeze.
3. to cool with ice, as a drink.
4. to cover (cake, sweet rolls, etc.) with icing; frost.
5. to refrigerate with ice, as air.
6. to make cold, as if with ice.
7. to preserve by placing on ice.
8. Ice Hockey. (especially in Canada) to put (a team) into formal play.
9. Slang.
   1. to settle or seal; make sure of, as by signing a contract:

      We'll ice the deal tomorrow.

   2. to make (a business arrangement) more attractive by adding features or benefits:

      The star pitcher wouldn't sign his new contract until the team iced it with a big bonus.

   3. to kill, especially to murder:

      The mobsters threatened to ice him if he went to the police.

10. Sports Slang. to establish a winning score or insurmountable lead in or otherwise assure victory in (a game or contest):

    Her second goal iced the game.

verb (used without object)

, iced, ic·ing.

1. to change to ice; freeze:

   The sherbet is icing in the refrigerator.

2. to be coated with ice (often followed by up ):

   The windshield has iced up.

adjective

1. of or made of ice:

   ice shavings;

   an ice sculpture.

2. for holding ice and food or drink to be chilled:

   an ice bucket;

   an ice chest.

3. on or done on the ice:

   ice yachting.

ICE

²

[ ahys ]

noun

1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: a federal agency tasked with interior enforcement of U.S. customs and immigration laws, including cross-border investigations of criminal activity, and the arrest, detention, and removal of undocumented aliens.
2. in case of emergency: (usually designating an emergency-contact phone number in one's cell phone contact list):

   The paramedic found my mom's ICE number immediately.

-ice

³

1. a suffix of nouns, indicating state or quality, appearing in loanwords from French:

   notice.

Ice.

⁴

abbreviation for

1. Iceland.
2. Icelandic.

ICE

¹

abbreviation for

1. Institution of Civil Engineers

Ice.

²

abbreviation for

1. Iceland(ic)

ice

³

/ aɪs /

noun

1. water in the solid state, formed by freezing liquid water glacial
2. a portion of ice cream
3. slang.
   a diamond or diamonds
4. the field of play in ice hockey
5. slang.
   a concentrated and highly potent form of methamphetamine with dangerous side effects
6. break the ice
   1. to relieve shyness, etc, esp between strangers
   2. to be the first of a group to do something
7. cut no ice informal.
   to fail to make an impression
8. on ice
   in abeyance; pending
9. on thin ice
   unsafe or unsafely; vulnerable or vulnerably
10. the Ice informal.
    Antarctica

verb

1. often foll byup, over, etc to form or cause to form ice; freeze
2. tr to mix with ice or chill (a drink, etc)
3. tr to cover (a cake, etc) with icing
4. slang.
   tr to kill
5. in ice hockey
   1. to shoot the puck from one end of the rink to the other
   2. to select which players will play in a game

ice

/ īs /

1. A solid consisting of frozen water. Ice forms at or below a temperature of 0°C (32°F). Ice expands during the process of freezing , with the result that its density is lower than that of water.
2. A solid form of a substance, especially of a substance that is a liquid or a gas at room temperature at sea level on Earth. The nuclei of many comets contain methane ice.

Derived Forms

• ˈiceless, adjective
• ˈiceˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• ice·less adjective
• ice·like adjective
• re·ice verb reiced reicing
• un·ice verb (used with object) uniced unicing

Word History and Origins

Origin of ice¹

First recorded before 900; 1905–10 ice fordef 8a; Middle English, Old English īs; cognate with German Eis, Old Norse īss

Origin of ice²

Middle English -ice, -ise < Old French < Latin -itius, -itia, -itium abstract noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of ice¹

Old English īs; compare Old High German īs, Old Norse īss

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. break the ice,
   1. to succeed initially; make a beginning.
   2. to overcome reserve, awkwardness, or formality within a group, as in introducing persons:

      The chairman broke the ice with his warm and very amusing remarks.

2. cut no ice, Informal. to have no influence or importance; fail to impress:

   Her father's position cuts no ice with me.

3. ice it, Slang. stop it; that's enough:

   You've been complaining all day, so ice it.

4. ice the puck, Ice Hockey. to hit the puck to the far end of the rink, especially from the defensive area across the offensive area.
5. on ice, Informal.
   1. with a good chance of success or realization:

      Now that the contract is on ice we can begin operating again.

   2. out of activity, as in confinement or imprisonment.
   3. in a state of abeyance or readiness:

      Let's put that topic on ice for the moment.

6. on thin ice, in a precarious or delicate situation: Also skating on thin ice.

   You may pass the course, but you're on thin ice right now.

More idioms and phrases containing ice

see break the ice ; cut no ice ; on ice ; on thin ice ; put on ice ; tip of the iceberg .

Example Sentences

Then he probably found the nearest ice bath to recuperate.

From Los Angeles Times

We were just doing what we were hired to do: Tell stories not about ice skates or about baseball bats but about human beings.”

From Los Angeles Times

And at Chishuru, whose prix fixe dinner menu is priced at £95, egusi — a seed used in soup, usually served with pounded yam — flavors an ice cream accompanying a meringue sponge.

From New York Times

The Met Office has issued six yellow warnings for snow and ice across the UK, with the warning for Wales in place until 10:00 GMT on Wednesday.

From BBC

“So-called sanctuary cities and states sound warm and fuzzy, but the protections they offer aren’t for abuelas getting ice cream, they’re for people who entered the country illegally and committed additional crimes.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bling
• bling-bling
• diamond
• diamonds

About This Word

What else does ICE mean?

ICE stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Where does ICE come from?

ICE was created after the passage of the United States Homeland Security Act. The act, a congressional move made in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, spelled out the creation of a new federal agency, the Department of Homeland Security. Underneath the Homeland Security umbrella were a number of new agencies, including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE, which was formed in March 2003.

ICE agents are officially charged with immigration enforcement, investigating illegal movement of people and goods, and preventing terrorism. As part of that mission, ICE performs Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), the term the agency uses to describe its removal of individuals from the United States who have been ordered to be deported.

ICE is not the same as the United States Border Patrol (USBP), but the two agencies do work together.

How is ICE used in real life?

Like many federal agencies (cf. NASA, FDA, CDC), the Immigration and Customs Enforcement is commonly referred to in its acronym form, ICE.

During #PoliceWeek, ICE joins our law enforcement partners throughout the country to honor and pay tribute to our officers and agents who have made the ultimate sacrifice to make our nation and all her citizens safer and more secure. #PoliceWeek2020 pic.twitter.com/7zRDLB8lwq

— ICE (@ICEgov) May 16, 2020

In the 2010–20s, the role of ICE in enforcing U.S. immigration policy has often been a source of dispute. For example, there have been calls to abolish ICE after the Trump administration was seen to deploy the agency aggressively to detain or deport migrants. 

This is unimaginably cruel. And yet a person in @DHSgov thought this up, and multiple people approved it and now it’s being implemented by hundreds of other people, many of whom probably tell themselves they’re “just following orders.”#NeverAgainIsNow #AbolishICE https://t.co/eHNHaaFj5b

— Sophie Ellman-Golan (@EgSophie) May 15, 2020

More examples of ICE:

“Two sisters from El Salvador, ages 8 and 11, in U.S. government custody had just been approved for reunification with their Houston-based mom, when ICE stepped in and moved to deport them … ICE said its agents would only focus on detaining ‘public safety risks,’ as well as immigrants whose criminal records require the agency to apprehend them.”
—Graham Kates & Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, May 2020

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.