icebreaker

noun

ice·​break·​er ˈīs-ˌbrā-kər 

1

: a ship equipped (as with a reinforced bow) to make and maintain a channel through ice

2

: something that is done or said to get through the first difficulties in starting a conversation or discussion

Roughly half of all Americans are invested in the market these days, and stock holdings have replaced politics, weather and sports as the go-to conversational icebreaker.

—Adam Bryant

… she also pays particular attention to icebreakers that relax guests and get them rubbing elbows, such as a cruise up the Colorado River, where guests nibble on hors d'oeuvres and sip Fall Creek wines.

—Steve Heimoff

see also break the ice

Examples of icebreaker in a Sentence

using an old joke as a conversational icebreaker

Recent Examples on the Web

Still, the path known as the Northern Sea Route is only traversable a few months of the year, and even then ships must be accompanied by icebreakers. —CBS News, 9 Feb. 2026

Continue reading … FROZEN STANDOFF – US scrambles to reopen Cold War base as Russia deploys 54 icebreakers vs America's 2. —FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026

Sometime in the next week, another part of the team, working from the South Korean icebreaker RV Araon, aims to drop another cable, which a robot will traverse once a day, down to a rocky moraine in the Amundsen Sea. —Christian Elliott, The Atlantic, 31 Jan. 2026

At the far end of the spectrum is Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot, the world’s first hybrid-electric polar icebreaker and the only passenger vessel capable of reaching the geographic North Pole. —Laura Begley Bloom, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for icebreaker

• automaker
• boilermaker
• cabinetmaker
• coffeemaker
• troublemaker
• undertaker
• blackacre
• caretaker
• clockmaker
• dressmaker
• filmmaker
• homemaker

Kids Definition

icebreaker

noun

ice·​break·​er -ˌbrā-kər 

1

: a ship equipped to make and keep open a channel through ice

2

: something (as a joke or game) that makes one feel more at ease and less reserved (as at a party or meeting)