pack ice
2
6.7
- noun
- /pæk aɪs/
- Specialized
:
banquisa
- The Arctic pack ice has been receding over the last decade or so, but that is only natural.
Examples
-
The wind loosened the pack ice just enough that we were able to set sail.
Blog text (11) -
The explorers carefully navigated through the pack ice to reach the open sea.
-
We have melted pack ice.
-
They noticed little pack ice in the ocean.
Academic text (2007) -
We could see leads in the pack ice, but it was pretty much solid by the time we got around 100 NM offshore.
Blog text (33) -
However, on the other hand, ships have recently been trapped for weeks in unusually heavy Antarctic pack ice conditions.
Blog text (34) -
They've had to wait until now for the pack ice to melt in the Davis Strait.
-
Researchers must allow extra time for contingencies such as dodging pack ice and having to shovel snow off the deck of the research vessel.
Blog text (22) -
Animals move northeast from the Labrador Sea across Davis Strait to the west coast of Greenland, following the pack ice as it recedes.
Academic text (1995) -
Faced with a long, hard winter and forced to hunt and fish through the pack ice, the ancient Aleuts began experimenting with new types of stone knives and adzes, floats, and sinkers.
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
3
4.7
A large flat area of floating ice on the sea
1
4.1
A large area of floating ice pressed together in polar seas
1
3.3
A large area of ice that forms part of a glacier or ice sheet
Large pieces of ice that float on the open sea
How Extensive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly built from 'pack' (to press/compact or a group) + 'ice', so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes ice masses pressed or driven together. This is a regular, compositional noun phrase (comparable constructions exist in other languages), making the meaning transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
The noun pack ice comes from the simple picture of many pieces of ice pushed together into a tight pack by wind and sea, so they float as one big area. That's why pack ice means 'a large area of floating ice' that can block ships.