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Glite Dictionary
ice tongs

ice tongs

1 5.6
A tool with two long arms used to hold and lift blocks of ice
  • noun
  • /aɪs tɔŋz/
  • Archaic
translation icon : tenazas para hielo
  • He used the ice tongs to lift the heavy block of ice for the party.

Examples

  • She reappeared carrying the ice tongs and clamped them on one of Mr. DiTaranto's feet.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • -Boris, get some ice tongs and a cigarette lighter.

    Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016)

  • One of them took a pair of ice tongs from the leather harness on the side of the horse, opened the tongs wide, and hooked them into the cake of ice.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The chef grabbed the ice tongs from the countertop to serve the ice cubes.

  • Carefully, she picked up the cold block of ice with the ice tongs to keep her hands dry.

Synonyms

tong
vsice tongs
14 2.4

A tool with two arms joined at one end for gripping things

is designed with extra length for carrying large frozen blocks
pair of tongs
vsice tongs
1 2.2

A tool with two long handles joined at one end for holding and lifting hot or delicate things

is larger and meant for moving heavy frozen blocks rather than delicate items
tongs
vsice tongs
1 1.0

A tool with two arms that you use to pick up hot or small things

is longer and built for lifting heavy frozen blocks

Surface Forms

ice tongs plural
ice tong singular

Morphology

ice + tong

The meaning is transparently compositional: 'ice' names the material and 'tongs' denotes a two-armed gripping tool, so 'ice tongs' straightforwardly means tongs used for handling ice. This follows a common noun+noun compounding pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Ice tongs are two long metal arms that pinch and hold a heavy block of ice so a person can lift and carry it. That's why the name means 'a tool for lifting and carrying blocks of ice'.