ice seller
- noun
- /aɪs ˈsɛlər/
- Archaic
:
vendedor de hielo
- Before refrigeration, an ice seller was essential for keeping food cold in many households.
Examples
-
In the past, an ice seller would often be seen cutting large pieces of ice from a frozen lake.
-
The ice seller delivered blocks of ice to homes without refrigeration during the hot summer months.
-
"An ice seller was killed for arguing with gunmen who told him that his profession was un-Islamic," Adnan, a 27-year-old Sunni Arab, said.
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
5
9.4
A person who cuts and delivers blocks of ice to homes before refrigerators
A woman who cuts and brings blocks of ice to homes
A person or company that supplies ice to shops and events
A person who travels to sell small goods like ribbons or buttons
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'ice seller' literally denotes a seller of ice and its meaning is directly derivable from combining 'ice' (frozen water) with 'seller' (one who sells). This noun+noun commercial composition is common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the phrase.
Etymology
Ice seller comes from a simple old job: someone who cut big blocks of ice from rivers or lakes and went door to door as a seller. Before people had 'refrigerators', these deliveries helped 'keep food cold', so ice seller simply means a person whose job was to cut and deliver ice.