ice-free

[ ahys-free, -free ]

adjective

1. free of ice.
2. (of a harbor or other body of water) free at all times of the year of any ice that would impede navigation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ice-free¹

First recorded in 1890–95; ice + -free

Example Sentences

Or this: You keep seeing headlines about melting ice caps — that the Arctic Ocean may be ice-free by 2050 — and you wonder, fleetingly, if you will outlive the polar bears.

From Los Angeles Times

Polar bears are used to an ice-free season of about four months when they rely on fat reserves until ice reforms and they can hunt blubber-rich seals from the floes.

From New York Times

"If they don't align in terms of having open, ice-free water, salmon don't turn that corner."

From Science Daily

Here, humans and other species crossing from Beringia along an ice-free path into the Americas may have emerged into the wider continent.

From Science Magazine

That last scenario — one in which humanity blows past its emissions goals and the region is ice-free for stretches of up to nine months — would be disastrous.

From Salon