ice cap

noun

1
: a cover of perennial ice and snow
specifically : a glacier forming on an extensive area of relatively level land and flowing outward from its center
2
: an ice bag shaped to the head

Examples of ice cap 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.
An evening-length piece about climate change certainly touches both, using dance to tell the fractured story of rising seas, melting polar ice caps and the collective, global responsibility to do something about it. Lauren Warnecke, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026 Set in 2500, the movie finds the planet underwater after rising seas and melting ice caps covered the land, driving humans onto floating communities. Lia Beck, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Dec. 2025 Rather than a continuous ice sheet, all that remained were high ice caps and glaciers on or near mountaintops. Keiji Horikawa, The Conversation, 22 Dec. 2025 McCauley said being a ferry pilot has provided him so many opportunities — flying low over the African savanna, over Greenland ice caps, and so many more places. Celeste Edenloff, Twin Cities, 28 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for ice cap

Word History

First Known Use

1816, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of ice cap was in 1816

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Cite this Entry

“Ice cap.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ice%20cap. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.

Kids Definition

ice cap

noun
: a large glacier forming on level land and flowing outward from its center

More from Merriam-Webster on ice cap

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