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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

ice.

Water in frozen (solid) form.

3 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/aɪs/Received-Pronunciation, US[ʌɪs]
  1. Water in frozen (solid) form.

    uncountable · usually
    He said, “Where we’re at right now was back in 2008 all covered with ice. From here to there at the side, the glacier shrank about 20 to 30 meters.”
  2. Any frozen volatile chemical, such as ammonia or carbon dioxide.

    uncountable · usually
  3. Any volatile chemical, such as water, ammonia, or carbon dioxide, not necessarily in solid form, when discussing the composition of e.g. a planet as an ice giant vs a gas giant.

    uncountable · usually
  4. Something having an extreme coldness of manner.

    figuratively · uncountable · usually
    a heart of ice
  5. Something, such as awkwardness, that prevents open social interaction.

    figuratively · uncountable · usually
    break the ice
  6. The area where a game of ice hockey is played.

    uncountable · usually
  7. Icing; frosting ("a sweet, often creamy and thick glaze made primarily of sugar").

    dialectal · uncountable · usually
  8. Ice cream.

    UK · dated · uncountable · usually
  9. A frozen dessert made of fruit juice, water and sugar.

    countable · uncountable · usually
  10. An ice cream.

    UK · countable · dated · uncountable · usually
  11. An individual piece of ice.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable · usually
  12. Elephant or rhinoceros ivory that has been poached and sold on the black market.

    slang · uncountable · usually
  13. An artifact that has been smuggled, especially one that is either clear or shiny.

    slang · uncountable · usually
  14. Money paid as a bribe.

    slang · uncountable · usually
  15. The crystal form of amphetamine-based drugs, including methamphetamine.

    slang · uncountable · usually
  16. One or more diamonds.

    slang · uncountable · usually
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH- Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH-so-der. Proto-Germanic *īsą Proto-West Germanic *īs Old English īs Middle English is English ice From Middle English hyse, hyys, ice, ijs, is, yce, ys, yys, from Old English īs, from Proto-West Germanic *īs, from Proto-Germanic *īsą (“ice”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH- (“ice, frost”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian Iis, is (“ice”), Saterland Frisian Ies (“ice”), West Frisian iis (“ice”), Alemannic German Iis, isch, éisch (“ice”), Bavarian, Cimbrian, and Mòcheno ais (“ice”), Dutch ijs (“ice”), German Eis (“ice”), German Low German Ies (“ice”), Luxembourgish Äis (“ice”), Vilamovian ajs (“ice”), Yiddish אײַז (ayz, “ice”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish is (“ice”), Elfdalian ais (“ice”), Faroese ísur (“ice”), Icelandic ís (“ice”); also Cornish yey (“ice”), yeyn (“cold”), Irish oighear (“ice”), Scottish Gaelic deigh, eigh, eighre (“ice”), Welsh iâ (“ice”), Lithuanian ýnis (“hoar frost”), Bulgarian and Russian и́ней (ínej, “hoar frost”), Czech jíní (“frost”), Macedonian and Serbo-Croatian и́ње (“hoar frost”), Ukrainian і́ній (ínij, “hoar frost, rime”), Ossetian их (ix, “ice”), Armenian եղյամ (eġyam, “frost, hoar frost, rime”), Persian یخ (yax, “ice”), Hittite 𒂊𒃷 (“ice”). Superseded non-native Middle English glace (“ice”), borrowed from Old French glace (“ice”).

verb/aɪs/Received-Pronunciation, US[ʌɪs]
  1. To become ice; to freeze.

    intransitive
  2. To cool with ice, as an injured body part or a beverage.

    transitive
  3. To make icy; to freeze.

    transitive
    The bridge ices before the road.
  4. To cover with icing (frosting made of sugar and milk or white of egg); to frost; as cakes, tarts, etc.

    transitive
  5. To put out a team for a match.

    transitive
    Milton Keynes have yet to ice a team this season
  6. To shoot the puck the length of the playing surface, causing a stoppage in play called icing.

    transitive
    If the Bruins ice the puck, the faceoff will be in their own zone.
  7. To murder.

    slang · transitive
  8. To defeat decisively.

    slang · transitive
    Despite his vulnerabilities, Clinton managed to ice Dole in his 1996 reelection campaign for President.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH- Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH-so-der. Proto-Germanic *īsą Proto-West Germanic *īs Old English īs Middle English is English ice From Middle English hyse, hyys, ice, ijs, is, yce, ys, yys, from Old English īs, from Proto-West Germanic *īs, from Proto-Germanic *īsą (“ice”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH- (“ice, frost”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian Iis, is (“ice”), Saterland Frisian Ies (“ice”), West Frisian iis (“ice”), Alemannic German Iis, isch, éisch (“ice”), Bavarian, Cimbrian, and Mòcheno ais (“ice”), Dutch ijs (“ice”), German Eis (“ice”), German Low German Ies (“ice”), Luxembourgish Äis (“ice”), Vilamovian ajs (“ice”), Yiddish אײַז (ayz, “ice”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish is (“ice”), Elfdalian ais (“ice”), Faroese ísur (“ice”), Icelandic ís (“ice”); also Cornish yey (“ice”), yeyn (“cold”), Irish oighear (“ice”), Scottish Gaelic deigh, eigh, eighre (“ice”), Welsh iâ (“ice”), Lithuanian ýnis (“hoar frost”), Bulgarian and Russian и́ней (ínej, “hoar frost”), Czech jíní (“frost”), Macedonian and Serbo-Croatian и́ње (“hoar frost”), Ukrainian і́ній (ínij, “hoar frost, rime”), Ossetian их (ix, “ice”), Armenian եղյամ (eġyam, “frost, hoar frost, rime”), Persian یخ (yax, “ice”), Hittite 𒂊𒃷 (“ice”). Superseded non-native Middle English glace (“ice”), borrowed from Old French glace (“ice”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.