ice pick
20
3.5
- noun
- /aɪs pɪk/
:
pico de hielo
- Then, like archeologists unearthing hidden treasure, they used ice picks and high-pressure water sprays to expose plant roots.
- grab the ice pick
- jab an ice pick
- use an ice pick
OK, I've got tools for this ice pick.
- OK, I've got tools for this ice pick.
- So we we're going to pull up this video involving an ice pick.
Examples
-
Instead of a standard fork, a hacksaw or ice pick might have been useful.
Blog text (10) -
Lola's hand reaches for an ice pick on the floor, raising it up slowly.
Fiction book (1993) -
Anyone got an ice pick?
-
One of them had an ice pick.
-
But the reporter naturally wanted to get the ice pick away from him.
Blog text (8) -
You didn't happen to see an ice pick around here, did you?
-
But he soon concealed the ice pick in his sleeve again and turned around.
Blog text (8) -
He said Jerome was killed with ice picks.
-
Lola races at them from the stairway with the ice pick!
Fiction book (1993) -
I used an ice pick to break the block of ice for our drinks.
Synonyms
35
5.3
A heavy tool with a wooden handle used to break rock
4
3.9
A heavy tool with a wooden handle and pointed metal ends for breaking hard ground or rocks
2
6.8
A tool with a sharp point and flat blade that cuts steps in ice and helps climbers stay safe
1
4.1
A tool with a sharp metal point used to break blocks of ice
How Strong
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a tool for breaking up blocks of ice' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'ice' (frozen water) with 'pick' (a pointed tool). This noun–noun compound follows a common, compositional pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Ice pick comes from the image of a sharp pick used to stab and chip at a block of ice. So the name came to mean 'a small pointed tool' for breaking ice.