icecap
Americannoun
noun
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A dome-shaped body of ice and snow that covers a mountain peak or a large area and spreads out under its own weight. Ice caps have an area of less than 50,000 square km (19,500 square mi).
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Compare ice sheet
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A polar cap.
Etymology
Origin of icecap
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.
Melting icecaps flooded the oceans with warmer water that was rich in sulfur and low in oxygen, overwhelming species that had adapted to colder conditions.
From Science Daily
Thanks to kilometres of ice core samples taken from the Greenland and Antarctic icecaps, we know that the climate has never been as warm as it is now for 800,000 years.
From Barron's
A week ago, 12 international scientists released new data on 2023’s nightmare conditions, including record-breaking heat, droughts, extreme weather and melting icecaps.
From Seattle Times
We dug deep channels into the icecap and ran hundreds of meters worth of cable, we used chainsaws to cut blocks of ice that had encased the station's pillar supports.
From Salon
In contemplating biosignatures, astrobiologists gained new knowledge into how basic life on Earth can endure in extreme environments — under icecaps, for example, or near hydrothermal vents.
From New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
