ice sheet

American

noun

a broad, thick sheet of ice covering an extensive area for a long period of time.
a glacier covering a large fraction of a continent.

ice sheet British

noun

a thick layer of ice covering a large area of land for a long time, esp those in Antarctica and Greenland

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of ice sheet

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In fact, more is known about the surface of some planets in our Solar System than much of Antarctica's "underbelly" – the topography beneath the ice sheet.

From BBC

This allows enormous volumes of meltwater to reach the base of the ice sheet within just a few hours.

From Science Daily

The study delivers valuable data for improving ice sheet models by directly incorporating how cracks form and evolve.

From Science Daily

These may become more accessible as global warming leads to the melting of the massive ice sheet that covers the island.

From BBC

These models shed light on how the region formed over millions of years and help explain how Greenland's massive ice sheet has responded, and may continue to respond, to climate change.

From Science Daily

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023