ice floe

noun

: a usually large flat free mass of floating sea ice

Examples of ice floe in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But the ice floe, red with the blood of a seal killed by a Greenlandic hunter. — Photovogue, Vogue, 22 Mar. 2026 So at three in the morning, Nweeia saw a polar bear crawl its way onto the ice floe. — Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025 The ship was built to withstand collisions with ice floes at the ice's edge, where polar bears could be found hunting. — Joe Hernandez, NPR, 8 Oct. 2025 Bardot’s first big action was posing with baby seals to protest their hunting on the Canadian ice floe. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 28 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for ice floe

Word History

First Known Use

1819, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of ice floe was in 1819

Rhymes for ice floe

See All Rhymes for ice floe

Browse Nearby Words

ice fishing
ice floe
ice flower
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ice floe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ice%20floe. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

ice floe

noun
: a flat free mass of floating sea ice
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All