icebox
Americannoun
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an insulated cabinet or chest with a partition for ice, used for preserving or cooling food, beverages, etc.
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Older Use. an electric or gas refrigerator.
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Nautical. an enclosed area in the bottom of a vessel through which sea water can be pumped up for use in the condenser in icy waters.
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Slang. an isolation cell in a prison.
noun
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a compartment in a refrigerator for storing or making ice
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an insulated cabinet packed with ice for storing food
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a refrigerator
Etymology
Origin of icebox
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.
Miraculously, the line of people that usually snakes down Melrose yearning for a slice of chef Karla Subero Pittol’s passion lime fruit icebox pie is nonexistent today.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026
Airport authorities and police seized six pieces of rhinoceros horn and around 12 kilograms of unidentified meat used to conceal them inside a polystyrene icebox.
From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026
For $100 out of my own pocket, I hired a pro who typically charges $400 or more to help make my two-century-old home feel less like an icebox in winter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025
I’ve been thinking about icebox cakes all summer, mostly because I’ve been thinking about how to avoid sweating through my clothes and still bring something nice to a dinner.
From Salon • Jul. 29, 2025
Our icebox, our cellar shelves, were full of food.
From "Milkweed" by Jerry Spinelli
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.
