drift ice
- noun
- /drɪft aɪs/
- UK
:
hielo a la deriva
- During the winter, we observed large pieces of drift ice floating in the Arctic Ocean.
Examples
-
The regular voyages of the Vikings between Iceland and Greenland were scarcely hindered by drift ice, and many burial places of Vikings in Greenland are now found in the permafrost.
Blog text (25) -
The little tent Amundsen left behind is half-buried in drift ice.
Fiction book (1998) -
Just as the drift ice begins to sweep over again, the side of the tent flutters oddly.
Fiction book (1998) -
Konungs Skuggsja, written in the mid-1250s, "describes the cold climate of Iceland and the Greenland drift ice," she says.
Academic text (1998) -
Ogilvie points out that Gudmundar saga Arasonar describes large amounts of drift ice in the northern harbors.
Academic text (1998) -
The research team studied how drift ice affects marine ecosystems in the polar regions.
-
While sailing through the icy waters, we encountered massive drift ice that had broken away from the glaciers.
Synonyms
3
4.7
A large flat area of floating ice on the sea
2
6.7
A large area of floating ice pushed together by wind and sea
1
4.1
A large area of floating ice pressed together in polar seas
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'large fragments of ice floating freely' is directly and compositionally derived from 'drift' (to be carried along/move) plus 'ice' (frozen water). This noun-noun combination follows a straightforward English pattern and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Drift ice comes from the simple image of pieces of ice that drift: they 'float' free and move with the sea instead of staying by the shore. So the term means large pieces of ice 'floating' on the open water.