ice flowers

noun

1. formations of ice crystals on the surface of a still, slowly freezing body of water.
2. Also called frost flowers. delicate tufts of frost on a surface of ice or snow.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ice flowers¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

There’s brash ice, pancake ice, bullet ice, green ice, frazil, nilas, breccia, shuga, slush ice, rotten ice, pressure ice, grease ice, ice dust, shorefast ice, ice flowers, ice haycocks, ice saddles, floes, calf bergs, growlers, and sastrugi, to name just a few.

From Literature

Photos of the hair ice, also known as “ice flowers,” were captured by a park ranger at Musgrove Mill, the site of a Revolutionary War battle in August of 1780.

From Fox News

The lingering chill of winter and the hint of spring warmth create an interesting phenomenon when they collide: ice flowers.

From New York Times

There may be a tiny, fleeting bright side for those who live in places where something known as frostweed grows: ice flowers.

From New York Times

Across the smooth wind-swept ice of the open tarns they would find a growth of ice flowers, six-rayed and complicated, more abundant and more beautiful than the Alpine-524- summer flowers.

From Project Gutenberg