Ice Pick Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

ice pick American

noun

1. a sharp-pointed tool for chipping or cutting ice.

ice pick British

noun

1. a pointed tool used for breaking ice

"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 pick

First recorded in 1860–65

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.

Tariq recalls a colleague poking fun at his bald spot during a shopping trip, and describing that as "like an ice pick to my heart".

From BBC

In June 1975, Angela Davis wrote about an incarcerated Black woman, Joan Little, who killed a white prison guard in North Carolina with the ice pick he brought into her cell.

From Los Angeles Times

Guillaume guides my every move, barking instructions on how to balance my centre of gravity and ensure the ice picks grip securely, and finally I top out onto safe ground.

From National Geographic

Emerging from the pipe, the men untangled the mouse-size bats from their nets, a delicate process given the tangle of spiny wings in the mesh and the animals’ ice pick teeth.

From Science Magazine

The US Coast Guard advises those planning recreational trips to the frozen lake to come properly equipped with ice picks or screwdrivers in case they fall through the ice and need to "self-rescue".

From BBC

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.