ice floe

noun

1. a large flat mass of floating ice.
2. floe ( def 1 ).

ice floe

noun

1. a sheet of ice, of variable size, floating in the sea See also ice field

ice floe

1. A large, flat expanse of floating ice smaller than a marine ice field.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ice floe¹

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

County Museum of Natural History diorama of a simple red room wedged between a taxidermied wolf pack in the mountains on one side and polar bears on ice floes on the other.

From Los Angeles Times

The sinking of the Endurance, months after the ship became trapped in ice, stranded Shackleton and 27 crew members on ice floes and dashed their hopes of becoming the first to cross Antarctica on foot.

From New York Times

Members of the public alerted the local authorities when they saw a man going onto an ice floe to approach the animal.

From BBC

On ice floes, mothers and pups can spread out over a larger area and the pups face fewer threats from other predators, humans, or infections that are easily spread in dense seal colonies on land.

From Science Daily

The iconic Arctic species normally feed on ringed seals that they catch on ice floes offshore.

From BBC

Related Words

• iceberg